Diagnostic Value of lncRNAs as Biomarker in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An Updated Meta-Analysis

The comprehensive roles of lncRNA FAM99A/FAM99B in hepatocellular carcinoma: Expressions, regulatory mechanisms and functional pathway analysis

AIMS

The incidence and mortality of liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) were increasing year by year. The aim of this study was to investigate the comprehensive roles of lncRNA FAM99A and FAM99B in LIHC.

MAIN METHODS

According to the data of TCGA and GTEx, the expression levels of FAM99A and FAM99B in LIHC were evaluated, and the overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), immune cell infiltration and tumor stage were analyzed. The subcellular localization of FAM99A and FAM99B in various cancer cell lines was predicted by lncATLAS database. In addition, we also used ENCORI, KEGG, LinkedOmics, Metascape and other databases. It was verified by in vivo and in vitro experiments.

KEY FINDINGS

Compared with adjacent normal tissues, FAM99A and FAM99B were down-regulated in LIHC tissues, and significantly correlated with immune cell infiltration. With the progression of tumor stage and grade, the expression of FAM99A and FAM99B showed a decreasing trend, and the prognosis of patients were also poor. In addition, the biological functions, signaling pathways and protein interactions of FAM99A and FAM99B in LIHC were enriched to study the potential molecular mechanisms. The overlapping RNA binding proteins (RBP) of FAM99A and FAM99B mainly included CSTF2T, BCCIP, RBFOX2 and SF3B4. Finally, experiments showed that overexpression of FAM99A attenuated the proliferation, invasion, colony formation and tumor growth of LIHC cells.

SIGNIFICANCE

Taken together, the above studies demonstrated that FAM99A and FAM99B had an inhibitory effect on the progression of LIHC, which might be promising diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for LIHC patients.

The clinical significance of long non-coding RNAs MALAT1 and CASC2 in the diagnosis of HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Globally, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second most common cause of cancer-related death due to a lack of early predictive and/or diagnostic tools. Thus, research for a new biomarker is important. LncRNAs play a functional role in target gene regulation and their deregulation is associated with several pathological conditions including HCC.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore the diagnostic potential of two LncRNAs MALAT1 and CASC2 in HCC compared to the routinely used diagnostic biomarker.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The current study is a case-control study carried out at Fayoum University Hospital and conducted on 89 individuals. The study included three groups of 36 HCC patients on top of HCV(HCC/HCV), 33 HCV patients, and 20 healthy volunteers as a control group. All study subjects were subjected to radiological examinations. The determination of CBC was performed by the automated counter and liver function tests by the enzymatic method were performed. In addition, HCV RNA quantification and the expression level of two LncRNAs (MALAT1 and CASC2) were performed by qRT-PCR.

RESULTS

The results revealed a statistically significant difference between study groups regarding liver function tests with a higher mean in HCC/HCV group. Also, serum MALAT1 significantly up-regulated in HCV (11.2±2.8) and HCC/HCV (4.56±1.4) compared to the control group. Besides, serum CASC2 levels in the HCV group were significantly upregulated (14.9±3.6), while, downregulated in the HCC group (0.16± 0.03). Furthermore, The ROC analysis for diagnostic efficacy parameters indicated that CASC2 has higher accuracy (94.6%) and sensitivity (97.2%) for HCC diagnosis than AFP with an accuracy of (90.9%), sensitivity (69.4%), and MALAT1 showed an accuracy of (56.9%), sensitivity (72.2%).

CONCLUSION

Our study results indicated that CASC2 is a promising biomarker and is considered better and could help in HCC diagnosis on top of HCV than MALAT1 and the routine biomarker AFP.

HCC biomarkers - state of the old and outlook to future promising biomarkers and their potential in everyday clinical practice

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and deadly tumors worldwide. Management of HCC depends on reliable biomarkers for screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of the disease, as well as predicting response towards therapy and safety. To date, imaging has been the established standard technique in the diagnosis and follow-up of HCC. However, imaging techniques have their limitations, especially in the early detection of HCC. Therefore, there is an urgent need for reliable, non/minimal invasive biomarkers. To date, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is the only serum biomarker used in clinical practice for the management of HCC. However, AFP is of relatively rather low quality in terms of specificity and sensitivity. Liquid biopsies as a source for biomarkers have become the focus of clinical research. Our review highlights alternative biomarkers derived from liquid biopsies, including circulating tumor cells, proteins, circulating nucleic acids, and exosomes, and their potential for clinical application. Using defined combinations of different biomarkers will open new perspectives for diagnosing, treating, and monitoring HCC.

Epigenetics in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignancy of the liver and has a high fatality rate. Genetic and epigenetic aberrations are commonly observed in HCC. The epigenetic processes include chromatin remodelling, histone alterations, DNA methylation, and noncoding RNA (ncRNA) expression and are connected with the progression and metastasis of HCC. Due to their potential reversibility, these epigenetic alterations are widely targeted for the development of biomarkers. In-depth understanding of the epigenetics of HCC is critical for developing rational clinical strategies that can provide a meaningful improvement in overall survival and prediction of therapeutic outcomes. In this article, we have summarised the epigenetic modifications involved in HCC progression and highlighted the potential biomarkers for diagnosis and drug development.

Diagnostic value of RNA for hepatocellular carcinoma: a network meta-analysis

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of RNA in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: A systematic review was conducted from PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE and Web of Science databases via well-designed retrieval strategy. Subsequently, the network meta-analysis was performed by the STATA software. Results: Through statistical analysis, the three hypotheses of the network meta-analysis were established. In view of these hypotheses, the diagnostic efficacy of the three markers in HCC (HCC vs healthy people) may be consistent, and the cumulative ranking results showed such a trend: circular RNA >long noncoding RNA >microRNA. Conclusion: Circular RNA may be most effective for diagnosing HCC across the three types of RNA.

Value of miR-21 levels as potential biomarkers in the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma：a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Many studies have reported that miR-21 levels are different between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and healthy controls, which could be used as a potential diagnostic biomarker for HCC. However, the diagnostic value of miR-21 for HCC varied greatly in previous studies. Therefore, this meta-analysis aims to provide higher grade evidence to investigate the diagnostic value of miR-21 for HCC.

METHODS

The databases of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Chinese databases (CNKI and VIP) were searched. The indices of miR-21 in the diagnosis of HCC were pooled using bivariate random-effect models. QUADAS-2 was used to evaluate the quality of included studies. All statistical analyses were performed by STATA (12.0) software.

RESULTS

Totally, 1589 subjects from 14 publications were included in this study. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratios (PLR), negative likelihood ratios (NLR), and area under the curve (AUC) were 0.83 (0.77-0.88), 0.80 (0.74-0.85), 4.12 (3.04-5.57), 0.21 (0.15-0.30), and 0.88 (0.85-0.91), respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that the AUC was higher in Non-China subgroup, qRT-PCR subgroup, and plasma subgroup than that in China subgroup, ddPCR subgroup, and serum subgroup, respectively. However, the AUC was not significantly different between the healthy control subgroup and chronic hepatitis control subgroup. Significant heterogeneity was found in this meta-analysis, while no evident publication bias was identified.

CONCLUSIONS

miR-21 is a valuable biomarker for the early diagnosis of HCC.

The lncRNAs in HBV-Related HCCs: Targeting Chromatin Dynamics and Beyond

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the fourth leading and fastest rising cause of cancer death (841,000 new cases and 782,000 deaths annually), and hepatitis B (HBV), with 250 million people chronically infected at risk of developing HCC, accounts for >50% of the cases worldwide. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), untranslated transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides, are implicated in gene regulation at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels, exerting their activities both in the nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments. Thanks to high-throughput sequencing techniques, several lncRNAs have been shown to favor the establishment of chronic HBV infection, to change the host transcriptome to establish a pro-carcinogenic environment, and to directly participate in HCC development and progression. In this review, we summarize current knowledge on the role of lncRNAs in HBV infection and HBV-related liver carcinogenesis and discuss the potential of lncRNAs as predictive or diagnostic biomarkers.

Long non-coding RNA RP11-284F21.9 functions as a ceRNA regulating PPWD1 by competitively binding to miR-769-3p in cervical carcinoma

Cervical carcinoma is the most common gynecological cancer in women worldwide. Emerging evidence has shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in multiple biological processes of cervical carcinoma tumorigenesis. We aimed to investigate the function of a novel lncRNA RP11-284F21.9 in cervical carcinoma. We found that RP11-284F21.9 was down-regulated in cervical carcinoma tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of RP11-284F21.9 inhibits proliferation, invasion and migration of cervical carcinoma cells in vitro. Further, we identified that RP11-284F21.9 directly interacted with miR-769-3p and functioned as the miR-769-3p sponge. Mechanistically, we showed that miR-769-3p regulated peptidylprolyl isomerase domain and WD repeat-containing protein1 (PPWD1) expression by targeting PPWD1 3′-UTR. Furthermore, xenograft tumor model revealed that overexpression of RP11-284F21.9 inhibited tumor growth of cervical carcinoma in vivo. Taken together, our results demonstrate that RP11-284F21.9 functions as tumor suppressor and regulates PPWD1 expression through competitively binding to miR-769-3p in cervical carcinoma, suggesting that RP11-284F21.9/miR-769-3p/PPWD1 axis could serve as a promising prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for cervical carcinoma.

Peripheral Blood Genetic Biomarkers for the Early Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide and has high mortality. Biomarkers related to HCC, such as alpha-fetoprotein, and imaging technology, such as ultrasound and computed tomography, have been used to screen and monitor HCC, but HCC is still difficult to diagnose effectively in the early stage due to the low sensitivity of the above mentioned traditional methods. There is an urgent need for noninvasive biomarkers to facilitate the screening and early diagnosis of HCC. With the advancement of next-generation sequencing, genetic biomarkers are becoming the core of cancer diagnosis. Genetic biomarkers such as peripheral blood circulating tumor DNA, microRNAs, long noncoding RNAs, circular RNAs, and exosomes have become the focus of early HCC diagnostics. HCC genetic biomarkers have been implemented in clinical practice. In this review, we describe the available literature on peripheral blood genetic biomarkers in the diagnosis of early HCC.

The prognostic significance of long non-coding RNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma: An updated meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Recently, many studies have demonstrated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are abnormally expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and may serve as a potential molecular biomarker to evaluate the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. Therefore, we accomplished a meta-analysis built on current studies to assess the prognostic value of lncRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma.

METHODS

The PubMed database was carefully searched to collect all eligible studies until February 20, 2019. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the overall survival, relapse-free survival, and progression-free survival were calculated to evaluate the prognostic significance of lncRNAs expression in hepatocellular carcinoma using Stata12.0 software. Heterogeneity, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias were also evaluated.

RESULTS

The results showed that the expression level of lncRNAs was significantly correlated with clinical outcomes. Abnormally expressed lncRNAs predicted poor overall survival (HR=2.19, 95% CI: 1.99-2.42, P<0.001; I²=44.7%, P=0.005), relapse-free survival (HR=2.68, 95% CI: 1.74-4.14, P<0.001; I²=0.0%, P=0.763) and progression-free survival of hepatocellular carcinoma patients (HR=2.44, 95% CI: 1.53-3.89, P<0.001; I²=0.0%, P=0.336). Statistical significance was also noted in subgroup meta-analyses that were stratified by follow-up time, cutoff value, and quality score. Moreover, the pooled results indicated that lncRNAs expression was significantly associated with tumor size (HR=1.48, 95% CI: 1.24-1.79), tumor number (HR=1.34, 95% CI: 1.08-1.66), and tumor node metastasis stage (HR=2.10, 95% CI: 1.48-2.99), but not liver cirrhosis and tumor differentiation (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

This meta-analysis indicates that lncRNAs are strongly associated with prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma and may serve as a promising indicator for prognostic evaluation of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. But larger clinical studies are needed to verify its feasibility.

Dynamic expression of hepatic GP73 mRNA and protein and circulating GP73 during hepatocytes malignant transformation

BACKGROUND

Hepatic Golgi protein-73 (GP73) expression is related to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the dynamic expression of GP73 mRNA and protein during hepatocytes malignant transformation.

METHODS

Human GP73 expressions in 88 HCC tissues and their self-control surrounding tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry, and survival time of HCC patients was evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method. HCC model of Sprague-Dawley rats was made by diet containing 2-fluorenylacetamide. The rats were divided into the control, hepatocyte degeneration, precanceration, and HCC groups to observe GP73 protein and mRNA alterations during hepatocytes malignant transformation.

RESULTS

The GP73 expression was significantly higher in the cancerous tissues than that in the surrounding tissues, with shorter survival time, and the positive rates of GP73 protein in human HCC tissues were 53.3% at stage I, 84.0% at stage II, 84.6% at stage III, and 60.0% at stage IV, respectively. The positive rates of hepatic GP73 protein and mRNA in the rat models were none in the control group, 66.7% and 44.4% in the hepatocytes degeneration group, 88.9% and 77.8% in the hepatocytes precanceration group, and 100% in the HCC group, respectively. There was a positive correlation (r = 0.91, P<0.01) between hepatic GP73 and serum GP73 during rat hepatocytes malignant transformation.

CONCLUSIONS

Abnormal GP73 expression may be a sensitive and valuable biomarker in hepatocarcinogensis.

Epigenetic Associations between lncRNA/circRNA and miRNA in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Simple Summary

Non-coding RNAs such as microRNAs, long non-coding RNAs, and circular RNAs contribute to the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma through epigenetic association. Long non-coding RNAs and circular RNAs act as competing endogenous RNAs that contain binding sites for miRNAs and thus compete with the miRNAs, which results in promotion of miRNA target gene expression, thereby leading to proliferation and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma. Competing endogenous RNAs have the potential to become diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Abstract

The three major members of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), named microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), play an important role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. Recently, the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulation model described lncRNA/circRNA as a sponge for miRNAs to indirectly regulate miRNA downstream target genes. Accumulating evidence has indicated that ceRNA regulatory networks are associated with biological processes in HCC, including cancer cell growth, epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), metastasis, and chemoresistance. In this review, we summarize recent discoveries, which are specific ceRNA regulatory networks (lncRNA/circRNA-miRNA-mRNA) in HCC and discuss their clinical significance.

Our emerging understanding of the roles of long non-coding RNAs in normal liver function, disease, and malignancy

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important biological mediators that regulate numerous cellular processes. New experimental evidence suggests that lncRNAs play essential roles in liver development, normal liver physiology, fibrosis, and malignancy, including hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma. In this review, we summarise our current understanding of the function of lncRNAs in the liver in both health and disease, as well as discuss approaches that could be used to target these non-coding transcripts for therapeutic purposes.

Perineural invasion as a prognostic factor for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma after curative resection and a potential indication for postoperative chemotherapy: a retrospective cohort study

Background

In the past four decades, the incidence of cholangiocarcinoma, especially intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), has raised rapidly worldwide. Completeness of resection, max size of tumor and etc. are widely recognized as prognostic factors. However, the prognosis significance of perineural invasion (PNI) on recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in ICC patients is controversial.

Methods

ICC patients who underwent curative hepatectomy and diagnosed pathologically were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were grouped by existence of PNI and outcomes were compared between groups. The potential relationship between PNI and postoperative chemotherapy was also investigated.

Results

There was no significant difference in demographic, clinical staging or tumor index between two groups, except positive hepatitis B surface antigen and CA19–9. PNI negative group showed a better prognosis in RFS (P < 0.0001) and OS (P < 0.0001). COX regression analyses showed PNI as an independent risk factor in RFS and OS. ICC with postoperative chemotherapy showed better effects in the whole cohort on both RFS (P = 0.0023) and OS (P = 0.0011). In PNI negative group, postoperative chemotherapy also showed significant benefits on RFS and OS, however not in PNI positive group (P = 0.4920 in RFS and P = 0.8004 in OS).

Conclusion

PNI was an independent risk factor in R0-resected ICC, presenting worse recurrence and survival outcomes. Meanwhile, negative PNI may act as an indication of postoperative chemotherapy.

Identification of potential prognostic long non-coding RNA for predicting survival in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is an aggressive biliary epithelial tumor with poor prognosis. There are increasing evidences that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are dysregulated in multifarious tumors, revealing potential significant role of lncRNAs in tumorigenesis.We used the ICC dataset retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas and the Gene Expression Omnibus database to obtain the lncRNAs expression profiles and identify potential prognostic lncRNAs for predicting the prognosis in ICC. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to construct a prognostic index (PI). Furthermore, coexpression analysis and functional assessment were performed to initially investigate the function of these prognostic lncRNAs.A total of 255 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) were identified among two RNA sequencing dataset of a total 63 ICC patients with 98 samples using R platform. Thirteen of 255 DElncRNAs were identified as prognostic lncRNAs and used for a PI. Patients with high PI were associated with poor prognostic (P = .0064), and the Cox regression showed consistent result (P = .042). The time-dependent receiver operating characteristic analysis showed the PI performed well in ICC survival prediction with an area under curve of 0.921, 0.801, and 0.717 for 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival, respectively.In conclusion, we included 13 identified prognostic DElncRNAs and constructed a prognostic signature/PI. ICC patient with higher PI was associated with poorer prognosis. However, the clinical role as well as biological functions of constructed PI and these prognostic DElncRNAs need to be verified in future study.

Advances in the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers globally. In contrast to the declining death rates observed for all other common cancers such as breast, lung, and prostate cancers, the death rates for HCC continue to increase by ~2–3% per year because HCC is frequently diagnosed late and there is no curative therapy for an advanced HCC. The early diagnosis of HCC is truly a big challenge. Over the past years, the early diagnosis of HCC has relied on surveillance with ultrasonography (US) and serological assessments of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). However, the specificity and sensitivity of US/AFP is not satisfactory enough to detect early onset HCC. Recent technological advancements offer hope for early HCC diagnosis. Herein, we review the progress made in HCC diagnostics, with a focus on emerging imaging techniques and biomarkers for early disease diagnosis.

Circular RNA expression and circPTPRM promotes proliferation and migration in hepatocellular carcinoma

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play a critical role during hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. CircRNA PTPRM (circPTPRM) has not been reported to cause disease and its role in HCC is unclear. This study explored circRNA expression and the function of circPTPRM in HCC. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed on 3 randomly selected pairs of HCC tissues and their corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissues. Three differentially expressed circRNAs, circPTPRM, circSMAD2 and circPTBP3 were selected and verified by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reactions in 30 pairs of tissue samples, In vitro cultured hepatoma cells, and normal liver cells. Clinical data analysis was performed to select target circRNAs. Anti-target circRNA siRNAs were transfected into hepatoma cell lines, and the biological behavior of hepatoma cells following silencing of the target circRNA were detected by cell proliferation, plate cloning, and transwell assays. There were 86 differentially expressed circRNAs from RNA-seq, of which 53 were significantly upregulated and 33 were significantly downregulated in HCC. CircPTPRM expression was significantly upregulated in HCC tissue (p = 0.023) based on the analysis of 30 paired samples. CircPTPRM expression positively correlated with HCC recurrence and metastasis (p = 0.039). CircPTPRM silencing reduced HCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion. CircRNAs were differentially expressed in HCC samples. CircPTPRM was significantly upregulated in HCC and may function during the tumorigenesis and metastasis of HCC.

Noncoding RNAs in Extracellular Fluids as Cancer Biomarkers: The New Frontier of Liquid Biopsies

The last two decades of cancer research have been devoted in two directions: (1) understanding the mechanism of carcinogenesis for an effective treatment, and (2) improving cancer prevention and screening for early detection of the disease. This last aspect has been developed, especially for certain types of cancers, thanks also to the introduction of new concepts such as liquid biopsies and precision medicine. In this context, there is a growing interest in the application of alternative and noninvasive methodologies to search for cancer biomarkers. The new frontiers of the research lead to a search for RNA molecules circulating in body fluids. Searching for biomarkers in extracellular body fluids represents a better option for patients because they are easier to access, less painful, and potentially more economical. Moreover, the possibility for these types of samples to be taken repeatedly, allows a better monitoring of the disease progression or treatment efficacy for a better intervention and dynamic treatment of the patient, which is the fundamental basis of personalized medicine. RNA molecules, freely circulating in body fluids or packed in microvesicles, have all the characteristics of the ideal biomarkers owing to their high stability under storage and handling conditions and being able to be sampled several times for monitoring. Moreover, as demonstrated for many cancers, their plasma/serum levels mirror those in the primary tumor. There are a large variety of RNA species noncoding for proteins that could be used as cancer biomarkers in liquid biopsies. Among them, the most studied are microRNAs, but recently the attention of the researcher has been also directed towards Piwi-interacting RNAs, circular RNAs, and other small noncoding RNAs. Another class of RNA species, the long noncoding RNAs, is larger than microRNAs and represents a very versatile and promising group of molecules which, apart from their use as biomarkers, have also a possible therapeutic role. In this review, we will give an overview of the most common noncoding RNA species detectable in extracellular fluids and will provide an update concerning the situation of the research on these molecules as cancer biomarkers.

Long noncoding RNA LINC00488 functions as a ceRNA to regulate hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth and angiogenesis through miR-330-5

BACKGROUND

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) recently have been identified as influential indicators in a variety of malignancies. Hence, the aim of the present study was to identify a functional lncRNA and its associated effects on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in terms of cellular growth and a ngiogenesis.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Microarray-based analysis revealed a possible regulatory mechanism involving LINC00488, microRNA-330-5p (miR-330-5p) and talin-1 (TLN1) in HCC. Targetscan and RNA22 online tools predicted the relationship among LINC00488, miR-330-5p and TLN1, which were further validated by dual luciferase reporter gene assay, RNA pull-down and RIP. To evaluate the effects of LINC00488 and miR-330-5p on the cellular process of HCC, we performed a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments, with the expression of LINC00488, miR-330-5p, and TLN1 altered by delivering plasmids into Hep3B cell line. The obtained results demonstrated that cells with siRNA-mediated depletion of LINC00488 or restoration of miR-330-5p displayed suppressed abilities of in vitro proliferation as well as of in vivo tumor growth and angiogenesis, while in vitro apoptosis was notably induced.

CONCLUSION

The fundamental findings of the present study collectively propose that lncRNA LINC00488 can competitively sponge miR-330-5p to regulate TLN1 in relation to the cell growth and angiogenesis in HCC.

Biomarkers vs imaging in the early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma and prognosis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the 5^th most frequently diagnosed cancer in the world, according to the World Health Organization. The incidence of HCC is between 3/100000 and 78.1/100000, with a high incidence reported in areas with viral hepatitis B and hepatitis C, thus affecting Asia and Africa predominantly. Several international clinical guidelines address HCC diagnosis and are structured according to the geographical area involved. All of these clinical guidelines, however, share a foundation of diagnosis by ultrasound surveillance and contrast imaging techniques, particularly computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and sometimes contrast-enhanced ultrasound. The primary objective of this review was to systematically summarize the recent published studies on the clinical utility of serum biomarkers in the early diagnosis of HCC and for the prognosis of this disease.