Clinical presentation and natural course of hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

The natural history of hepatocellular carcinoma has evolved considerably over past decades. Patient presentation is highly dependent on the severity of underlying hepatic function, although many patients are now diagnosed by screening programmes prior to the development of symptoms. Growth and maturation of hepatocellular carcinoma is variable and involves a complex network of hepatic vasculature. Staging systems have been developed to predict disease progression and survival and continue to undergo investigation.

Laminin-5 stimulates hepatocellular carcinoma growth through a different function of α6β4 and α3β1 integrins

“…The activation of different TK receptors mediated by growth factors is not sufficient to explain the high heterogeneity of tumor growth observed among HCC patients with comparable stages of disease and demographic characteristics, suggesting that other molecular pathways are implicated. 6,23 Therefore, the knowledge of an alternative HCC proliferation mechanism could help to make a better patient selection of candidates for biological therapies using TK receptors as molecular targets, as recently suggested. 24,25 As reported in the literature, we observed a highly variable number of Ki-67 positive cells among the different HCC tissues, correlating with tumor size.…”

The contributions of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections to cirrhosis and primary liver cancer worldwide

“…Cirrhosis precedes most cases of HCC, and may exert a promotional effect via hepatocyte regeneration [3,4]. Compared with other causes of cirrhosis, chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) is associated with a higher risk of developing HCC [3,5].…”

“…Cirrhosis precedes most cases of HCC, and may exert a promotional effect via hepatocyte regeneration [3,4]. Compared with other causes of cirrhosis, chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) is associated with a higher risk of developing HCC [3,5]. Alcohol abuse represents a leading cause of cirrhosis and is also a major contributor to HCC in many parts of the world, with some evidence for a synergistic effect in the presence of HBV or HCV infection [6,7].…”

Circulating IL-6, IL-17 and vitamin D in hepatocellular carcinoma: Potential biomarkers for a more favorable prognosis?

“…These promotional effects apparently are exerted via hepatocyte regeneration (Bialecki and Di Bisceglie, 2005). As the cirrhosis precedes most cases of HCC, it is considered a pre-cancer condition and so necessitates an early detection and continuous screening of patients during follow-up visits.…”