Biological Treatment for Liver Tumor and New Potential Biomarkers

Abstract

The search for effective and efficacious therapy for liver tumor was started many years ago and is still ongoing. Despite all of the surgical advances, much work needs to be done to improve understanding of the biology of the tumor and its treatment. The rules of hepatic surgery are changing because of two recent major trends: (1) technical simplification, and (2) the endeavor to treat an increasing number of patients. T lymphocytes are potent cellular effectors of the immune system and possess a memory that responds to rechallenge by the same antigen. Being more specific and less toxic than chemotherapy, tumor infusion could be an ideal adjuvant therapy for patients with primary and secondary liver malignancies. Moreover, tumor cell vaccines have demonstrated efficacy in terms of minimal residual disease and are being investigated, but the requirement for an adequate supple of autologos tumor may limit the general applicability of these approaches. Various studies have demonstrated the aberrant expression of germ-cell proteins called cancer-testis (CT) antigens in liver neoplastic cells. Their selective normal-tissue expression makes them ideal antigens for immune targeting of malignant disease. Specific expression of CT antigens also suggests their application as tumor markers to detect circulating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells, as an adjuvant diagnostic tool, and as indicators for recurrence and prognosis. Biological therapy is now generating more clinical trials. More studies need to be performed and further experiments need to be done, although currently this seems a valid pathway for the treatment of liver cancer. Cytoreduction treatment of liver tumor and the vaccine might be the future of the treatment of primary and secondary liver tumor.

Overexpression of RhoGDI, a novel predictor of distant metastasis, promotes cell proliferation and migration in hepatocellular carcinoma

“…Usually, it is common observed in certain areas of Asia and Africa, however, in recent years, an increasing incidence has been found in Western countries [2]. The prognosis of HCC after surgical or locoregional therapies is still in its poor position, resulting in ongoing researches [3]. With the increasing understanding of the tumor biology of HCC, more and more molecular markers with high sensitivity and specificity for HCC have been developed for early diagnosis and the development of future targeted HCC therapeutics.…”

Predicting prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma after curative surgery with common clinicopathologic parameters

“…There is an ongoing search for predictive biomarkers of cancer prognosis, where pathological parameters, protein biomarkers, mRNA expression level, and genomic DNA abnormalities, etc. are surveyed [6-9]. Among these factors, the clinicopathologic parameters are routinely recorded for cancer surgery.…”

Decreased expression of BATF2 is associated with a poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

“…The search for an effective and efficient therapy for HCC is still ongoing. 3 With the increasing understanding of the tumor biology of HCC, more and more molecular markers with high sensitivity and specificity for HCC have been found and could be helpful for early diagnosis and the development of future targeted HCC therapeutics.Human BATF2, a member of the BATF subfamily of basic leucine zipper proteins, is also called SARI because it can be regulated by interferon and serves as a suppressor of AP-1 in human cells. 4 Recently, it was found that mRNA expression of BATF2 was detected in normal immortalized, but not malignant, human cell lines, and that the forced expression of BATF2 inhibited the growth of cancer cells.…”

“…The search for an effective and efficient therapy for HCC is still ongoing. 3 With the increasing understanding of the tumor biology of HCC, more and more molecular markers with high sensitivity and specificity for HCC have been found and could be helpful for early diagnosis and the development of future targeted HCC therapeutics.…”