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Safri F, Nguyen R, Zerehpooshnesfchi S, George J, Qiao L. Heterogeneity of hepatocellular carcinoma: from mechanisms to clinical implications. Cancer Gene Ther 2024; 31:1105-1112. [PMID: 38499648 PMCID: PMC11327108 DOI: 10.1038/s41417-024-00764-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Revised: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024]
Abstract
Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common types of primary liver cancer. Current treatment options have limited efficacy against this malignancy, primarily owing to difficulties in early detection and the inherent resistance to existing drugs. Tumor heterogeneity is a pivotal factor contributing significantly to treatment resistance and recurrent manifestations of HCC. Intratumoral heterogeneity is an important aspect of the spectrum of complex tumor heterogeneity and contributes to late diagnosis and treatment failure. Therefore, it is crucial to thoroughly understand the molecular mechanisms of how tumor heterogeneity develops. This review aims to summarize the possible molecular dimensions of tumor heterogeneity with an emphasis on intratumoral heterogeneity, evaluate its profound impact on the diagnosis and therapeutic strategies for HCC, and explore the suitability of appropriate pre-clinical models that can be used to best study tumor heterogeneity; thus, opening new avenues for cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatema Safri
- Storr Liver Centre, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia
| | - Romario Nguyen
- Storr Liver Centre, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia
| | - Shadi Zerehpooshnesfchi
- Storr Liver Centre, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia
| | - Jacob George
- Storr Liver Centre, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia.
| | - Liang Qiao
- Storr Liver Centre, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia.
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Abu-Serie MM, Barakat A, Ramadan S, Habashy NH. Superior cuproptotic efficacy of diethyldithiocarbamate-Cu 4O 3 nanoparticles over diethyldithiocarbamate-Cu 2O nanoparticles in metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma. Front Pharmacol 2024; 15:1388038. [PMID: 39076585 PMCID: PMC11284037 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1388038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/31/2024] Open
Abstract
Metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HC) is a serious health concern. The stemness of cancer stem cells (CSCs) is a key driver for HC tumorigenesis, apoptotic resistance, and metastasis, and functional mitochondria are critical for its maintenance. Cuproptosis is Cu-dependent non-apoptotic pathway (mitochondrial dysfunction) via inactivating mitochondrial enzymes (pyruvate dehydrogenase "PDH" and succinate dehydrogenase "SDH"). To effectively treat metastatic HC, it is necessary to induce selective cuproptosis (for halting cancer stemness genes) with selective oxidative imbalance (for increasing cell susceptibility to cuproptosis and inducing non-CSCs death). Herein, two types of Cu oxide nanoparticles (Cu4O3 "C(I + II)" NPs and Cu2O "C(I)" NPs) were used in combination with diethyldithiocarbamate (DD, an aldehyde dehydrogenase "ALDH" inhibitor) for comparative anti-HC investigation. DC(I + II) NPs exhibited higher cytotoxicity, mitochondrial membrane potential, and anti-migration impact than DC(I) NPs in the treated human HC cells (HepG2 and/or Huh7). Moreover, DC(I + II) NPs were more effective than DC(I) NPs in the treatment of HC mouse groups. This was mediated via higher selective accumulation of DC(I + II) NPs in only tumor tissues and oxidant activity, causing stronger selective inhibition of mitochondrial enzymes (PDH, SDH, and ALDH2) than DC(I)NPs. This effect resulted in more suppression of tumor and metastasis markers as well as stemness gene expressions in DC(I + II) NPs-treated HC mice. In addition, both nanocomplexes normalized liver function and hematological parameters. The computational analysis found that DC(I + II) showed higher binding affinity to most of the tested enzymes. Accordingly, DC(I + II) NPs represent a highly effective therapeutic formulation compared to DC(I) NPs for metastatic HC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marwa M. Abu-Serie
- Medical Biotechnology Department, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute (GEBRI), City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-City), Alexandria, Egypt
| | - Assem Barakat
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sherif Ramadan
- Chemistry Department, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Benha University, Benha, Egypt
| | - Noha Hassan Habashy
- Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
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Gutman MJ, Serra LM, Koshy M, Katipally RR. SBRT for Liver Tumors: What the Interventional Radiologist Needs to Know. Semin Intervent Radiol 2024; 41:1-10. [PMID: 38495259 PMCID: PMC10940045 DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1778657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
This review summarizes the clinical evidence supporting the utilization of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for liver tumors, including hepatocellular carcinoma, liver metastases, and cholangiocarcinoma. Emerging prospective evidence has demonstrated the benefit and low rates of toxicity across a broad range of clinical contexts. We provide an introduction for the interventional radiologist, with a discussion of underlying themes such as tumor dose-response, mitigation of liver toxicity, and the technical considerations relevant to performing liver SBRT. Ultimately, we recommend that SBRT should be routinely included in the armamentarium of locoregional therapies for liver malignancies, alongside those liver-directed therapies offered by interventional radiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J. Gutman
- Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, The University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Lucas M. Serra
- Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, The University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Matthew Koshy
- Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, The University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Rohan R. Katipally
- Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, The University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
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Chen J, Chan TTH, Zhou J. Lipid metabolism in the immune niche of tumor-prone liver microenvironment. J Leukoc Biol 2024; 115:68-84. [PMID: 37474318 DOI: 10.1093/jleuko/qiad081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2023] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The liver is a common primary site not only for tumorigenesis, but also for cancer metastasis. Advanced cancer patients with liver metastases also show reduced response rates and survival benefits when treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Accumulating evidence has highlighted the importance of the liver immune microenvironment in determining tumorigenesis, metastasis-organotropism, and immunotherapy resistance. Various immune cells such as T cells, natural killer and natural killer T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells, and stromal cells including liver sinusoidal endothelial cells, Kupffer cells, hepatic stellate cells, and hepatocytes are implicated in contributing to the immune niche of tumor-prone liver microenvironment. In parallel, as the major organ for lipid metabolism, the increased abundance of lipids and their metabolites is linked to processes crucial for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and related liver cancer development. Furthermore, the proliferation, differentiation, and functions of hepatic immune and stromal cells are also reported to be regulated by lipid metabolism. Therefore, targeting lipid metabolism may hold great potential to reprogram the immunosuppressive liver microenvironment and synergistically enhance the immunotherapy efficacy in the circumstance of liver metastasis. In this review, we describe how the hepatic microenvironment adapts to the lipid metabolic alterations in pathologic conditions like nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. We also illustrate how these immunometabolic alterations promote the development of liver cancers and immunotherapy resistance. Finally, we discuss the current therapeutic options and hypothetic combination immunotherapies for the treatment of advanced liver cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jintian Chen
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, SAR, P.R. China
| | - Thomas T H Chan
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, SAR, P.R. China
| | - Jingying Zhou
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, SAR, P.R. China
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Yap KY, Chi H, Ng S, Ng DHL, Shelat VG. Effect of perioperative branched chain amino acids supplementation in liver cancer patients undergoing surgical intervention: A systematic review. World J Gastrointest Surg 2023; 15:2596-2618. [PMID: 38111761 PMCID: PMC10725538 DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v15.i11.2596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Branched chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation has been associated with favourable outcomes in liver malignancies requiring definitive resection or liver transplantation. Currently, there are no updated systematic reviews evaluating the efficacy of perioperative BCAA supplementation in patients undergoing surgery for liver cancer. AIM To evaluate the efficacy of perioperative BCAA supplementation in patients undergoing surgery for liver cancer. METHODS A systematic review of randomized control trials and observational studies was conducted on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science to evaluate the effect of perioperative BCAA supplementation compared to standard in-hospital diet, in liver cancer patients undergoing surgery. Clinical outcomes were extracted, and a meta-analysis was performed on relevant outcomes. RESULTS 16 studies including 1389 patients were included. Perioperative BCAA administration was associated with reduced postoperative infection [risk ratio (RR) = 0.58 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.39 to 0.84, P = 0.005] and ascites [RR = 0.57 (95%CI: 0.38 to 0.85), P = 0.005]. There was also a reduction in length of hospital stay (LOS) [weighted mean difference (WMD) = -3.03 d (95%CI: -5.49 to -0.57), P = 0.02] and increase in body weight [WMD = 1.98 kg (95%CI: 0.35 to 3.61, P = 0.02]. No significant differences were found in mortality, cancer recurrence and overall survival. No significant safety concerns were identified. CONCLUSION Perioperative BCAA administration is efficacious in reducing postoperative infection, ascites, LOS, and increases body weight in liver cancer patients undergoing surgical resection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kwan Yi Yap
- Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
| | - HongHui Chi
- Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
| | - Sherryl Ng
- Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
| | - Doris HL Ng
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore 308433, Singapore
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 636921, Singapore
| | - Vishal G Shelat
- Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 636921, Singapore
- Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore 308433, Singapore
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Hepatic Resection in Patients with Colo-Rectal Liver Metastases: Surgical Outcomes and Prognostic Factors of Single-Center Experience. J Clin Med 2023; 12:jcm12062170. [PMID: 36983170 PMCID: PMC10057410 DOI: 10.3390/jcm12062170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Surgical resection has a fundamental role in increasing the chance of survival in patients with colorectal liver metastases. The guidelines have been modified and expanded in time in order to increase the number of patients that can benefit from this treatment. The aim of this study is to analyze the main prognostic factors related to overall and disease-free survival of a series of consecutive patients undergoing liver resection for colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of patients undergoing liver resection for CRLM between April 2018 and September 2021 was performed. Clinical data and laboratory parameters were evaluated using the log-rank test. OS and DFS were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: A retrospective study on 75 patients who underwent liver resection for CRLM was performed. The OS and DFS at 1 and 3 years were 84.3% and 63.8% for OS, 55.6% and 30.7% for DFS, respectively. From the analysis of the data, the most significant results indicate that: patients with a lower CEA value <25 ng/mL had an OS of 93.6% and 80.1% at 1 and 3 years, with an average of 36.7 months (CI 95% 33.1–40.3); moreover, patients with a value equal to or greater than 25 ng/mL had a 1-year survival equal to 57.4%, with an average of 13.8 months (CI 95% 9.4–18.2) (p < 0.001); adjuvant chemotherapy increases by 3 years the overall survival (OS: 68.6% vs. 49.7%) (p = 0.013); localization of the primary tumor affects OS, with a better prognosis for left colon metastases (OS at 42 months: 85.4% vs. 42.2%) (p value = 0.056); patients with stage T1 or T2 cancer have a better 3 years OS (92.9–100% vs. 49.7–56.3%) (p = 0.696), while the N0 stage results in both higher 3 years OS and DFS than the N + stages (OS: 87.5% vs. 68.5% vs. 24.5%); metachronous metastases have a higher 3 years OS than synchronous ones (80% vs. 47.4%) (p = 0.066); parenchymal sparing resections have a better 3 years DFS than anatomical ones (33.7% vs. 0%) (p = 0.067); a patient with a parenchymal R1 resection has a much worse prognosis than an R0 (3 years OS: 0% vs. 68.7%) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: CEA value of less than 25 ng/mL, localization of the primary tumor in the left colon, primary tumor in stage T1/2 and N0, metachronous presentation, R0 resection, fewer than four metastases, and use of adjuvant chemotherapy are all parameters that in our analysis have shown a correlation with a better prognosis; moreover, the evaluation of the series is in line with the latest evidence in the literature in defining the non-inferiority of minimally invasive and parenchymal sparing treatment compared to the classic laparotomic approach with anatomic resection.
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Gao H, He ZY, Du XL, Wang ZG, Xiang L. Machine Learning for the Prediction of Synchronous Organ-Specific Metastasis in Patients With Lung Cancer. Front Oncol 2022; 12:817372. [PMID: 35646679 PMCID: PMC9136456 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.817372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background This study aimed to develop an artificial neural network (ANN) model for predicting synchronous organ-specific metastasis in lung cancer (LC) patients. Methods A total of 62,151 patients who diagnosed as LC without data missing between 2010 and 2015 were identified from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. The ANN model was trained and tested on an 75/25 split of the dataset. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, area under the curve (AUC) and sensitivity were used to evaluate and compare the ANN model with the random forest model. Results For distant metastasis in the whole cohort, the ANN model had metrics AUC = 0.759, accuracy = 0.669, sensitivity = 0.906, and specificity = 0.613, which was better than the random forest model. For organ-specific metastasis in the cohort with distant metastasis, the sensitivity in bone metastasis, brain metastasis and liver metastasis were 0.913, 0.906 and 0.925, respectively. The most important variable was separate tumor nodules with 100% importance. The second important variable was visceral pleural invasion for distant metastasis, while histology for organ-specific metastasis. Conclusions Our study developed a “two-step” ANN model for predicting synchronous organ-specific metastasis in LC patients. This ANN model may provide clinicians with more personalized clinical decisions, contribute to rationalize metastasis screening, and reduce the burden on patients and the health care system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huan Gao
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
- Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhi-yi He
- Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Xing-li Du
- Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Zheng-gang Wang
- Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
- *Correspondence: Zheng-gang Wang, ; Li Xiang,
| | - Li Xiang
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
- *Correspondence: Zheng-gang Wang, ; Li Xiang,
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