Uncovering the molecular drivers of liver cancer

 


Researchers discover that inflammation and aging contribute to non-viral liver cancer development. Green tea's role in reversing some of the pathway dysregulation that may contribute to the cancer development and other therapies explored.

Liver cancer can arise spontaneously from healthy liver tissue. Recently, however, researchers have discovered an increasing correlation between some liver cancers and non-viral chronic liver disease (CLD).

One liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is associated with CLD in about 15–25% of cases. While increasing awareness and screening of cancers has improved the ability to detect liver cancer at earlier stages when it is more effectively treated, cancer prevention is always a primary goal of both healthcare providers and biomedical researchers.

The increasing prevalence of CLD with HCC suggests that this underlying condition predisposes liver tissue to cancer development. In order to investigate how healthy liver tissue differs from that of HCC patients with CLD, scientists from Hiroshima University, Hiroshima Prefectural Hospital, and Hiroshima University Hospital compared the gene expression and metabolites (molecules) in normal and affected samples. The team published their research on February 21 in the Journal of Proteome Research.

“In this study, we analyzed non-cancerous liver tissue adjacent to HCC lesions from patients with non-viral chronic liver disease. Through multi-omics analysis of transcriptomic and metabolomic data, we aimed to uncover molecular mechanisms underlying HCC development and identify novel targets for chemoprevention,” said Hikaru Nakahara, a graduate student in the Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences at Hiroshima University, Japan and first author of the research paper.

Specifically, the team used RNA-seq to sequence RNA transcripts, or temporary copies of genetic information, to determine which genes were being expressed in normal and CLD tissue and at what levels. By comparing the number of times each RNA transcript was sequenced in each tissue, the researchers could deduce how gene expression differed between the two tissues and infer which cellular pathways may be contributing to disease.

In parallel, the researchers analyzed which metabolites were present in CLD and normal tissue to identify metabolic pathways that may be dysregulated. By investigating differences in gene expression and metabolites, the investigators were able to identify possible disease-causing pathways and potential therapeutic targets for HCC prevention.

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#LiverCancer
#HepatocellularCarcinoma
#CancerResearch
#Oncology
#MolecularBiology
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#TumorBiomarkers
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#TargetedTherapy
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