Dissecting the biological diversity of hepatocellular carcinoma: Opening Pandora's Box

Abstract

rimary liver cancer is one of the most commonly occurring malignancies, albeit one with a deadly consequence as it ranks second in males and sixth in females as a cause of cancer-related death [1,2] . In this regard, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) constitutes almost 90% of confirmed primary liver cancer cases [3] . Despite the advances in clinical classifications of HCC according to patient-related and disease-related criteria (e.g., the Barcelona Clinic liver cancer system) [4] , exploring the biological diversity of HCC have lagged behind. The biological diversity of HCC is expected to come from a diverse set of etiological factors (Hepatitis-B virus, Hepatitis-C virus, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and aflatoxin, among other things), all of which are expected to drive the pathogenesis of HCC via various pathways.In the current issue of AMOR, Youssef and co-workers explored the potential involvement of the cofactor of BRCA1 (COBRA1) in HCC pathogenesis [5] . COBRA1 has been incriminated in the pathogenesis of a number of other solid tumors, notably breast cancer. In the current study, the authors investigated the expression of COBRA1 in several HCC cell lines, ranging from low-to high-grade HCC cell lines. Their results showed that the COBRA1 protein was highly expressed in the low-grade HCC cell line, while significantly down-regulated in high-grade HCC cell lines. This preliminary study indicates that COBRA1 may indeed play a role in HCC pathogenesis and progression, and should be further investigated moving forward. Conflict of interestThe author declares no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. References 1.Torre