Time-series clustering of cytokine expression after transarterial chemoembolization in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Post-Intervention Plasma IL-10 Level Predicts Early Tumor Response in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with Transarterial Chemoembolization

Background: Cytokines play an important role in tumor progression, but studies have shown mixed results regarding the role of cytokines in predicting the early response to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Objectives: This study aimed to explore the correlation between plasma levels of cytokines and early tumor response in HCC patients undergoing TACE. Methods: Thirty HCC patients enrolled in this study from the department of liver disease of a general hospital from June 2020 to January 2021. Plasma samples were sampled at baseline and 7 days after TACE for cytokine detection by cytometric bead array (CBA). At 4 - 6 weeks after TACE, the objective response of HCC patients was confirmed according to response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST). Potential factors such as various cytokines and some clinical parameters were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis. The predictive effects of different factors in HCC patients undergoing TACE were analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: Plasma levels of post-TACE interleukin-10 (IL-10) were statistically significantly higher than baseline IL-10 levels. The level of plasma IL-10 after TACE was an independent risk factor for early tumor response. The patients with low plasma IL-10 levels after TACE had a favorable prognosis. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that post-TACE IL-10 had a high predictive value (area under the curve = 0.769, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.598 - 0.939). A high level of plasma IL-10 after TACE was correlated with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level (P = 0.037) and post-TACE alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (r = 0.368, P = 0.045). Post-TACE plasma IL-10 did not correlate with age or tumor metastasis. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that post-intervention plasma IL-10 levels could predict short-term outcomes independently after TACE. These findings were helpful in identifying the patients who might benefit from TACE.

Identification and Validation of Novel Biomarkers for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Liver Fibrosis/Cirrhosis and Chronic Hepatitis B via Transcriptome Sequencing Technology

Purpose

The aim of this study was to identify and validate novel biomarkers for distinguishing among hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), liver fibrosis/liver cirrhosis (LF/LC) and chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

Patients and Methods

Transcriptomic sequencing was conducted on the liver tissues of 5 patients with HCC, 5 patients with LF/LC, 5 patients with CHB, and 4 healthy controls. The expression levels of selected mRNAs and proteins were assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining, and were verified in validation set (n=200) and testing set (n=400) via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results

A total of 9 hub mRNAs were identified by short time-series expression miner and weighted gene co-expression network analysis. Of note, the results of qRT-PCR and IHC staining demonstrated that SHC adaptor protein 1 (SHC1), SLAM family member 8 (SLAMF8), and interleukin-32 (IL-32) exhibited gradually increasing trends in the four groups. Subsequent ELISA tests on the validation cohort indicated that the plasma levels of SHC1, SLAMF8 and IL-32 also gradually increased. Furthermore, a diagnostic model APFSSI (age, PLT, ferritin, SHC1, SLAMF8 and IL-32) was established to distinguish among CHB, LF/LC and HCC. The performance of APFSSI model for discriminating CHB from healthy subjects (AUC=0.966) was much greater compared to SHC1 (AUC=0.900), SLAMF8 (AUC=0.744) and IL-32 (AUC=0.821). When distinguishing LF/LC from CHB, APFSSI was the most outstanding diagnostic parameter (AUC=0.924), which was superior to SHC1, SLAMF8 and IL-32 (AUC=0.812, 0.684 and 0.741, respectively). Likewise, APFSSI model with the greatest AUC value displayed an excellent performance for differentiating between HCC and LF/LC than other variables (SHC1, SLAMF8 and IL-32) via ROC analysis. Finally, the results in the test set were consistent with those in the validation set.

Conclusion

SHC1, SLAMF8 and IL-32 can differentiate among patients with HCC, LF/LC, CHB and healthy controls. More importantly, the APFSSI model greatly improves the diagnostic accuracy of HBV-associated liver diseases.

Dkk1 inhibits malignant transformation induced by Bmi1 via the β-catenin signaling axis in WB-F344 oval cells

Dickkopf-1 (Dkk1) is an inhibitor of Wnt signaling involved in cancer cell proliferation, apoptosis, and migration and angiogenesis. It was previously reported that B cell-specific Moloney mouse leukemia virus integration site 1 (Bmi1) activates the Wnt pathway by inhibiting the expression of DKK1 in breast cancer cell lines and 293T cells. Bmi1 and DKK1 are highly expressed in liver samples taken by biopsy from patients with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the effect of both Bmi1 and DKK1 on the carcinogenesis of adult hepatic stem cells (oval cells) has not previously been reported. In this study, we used WB-F344 cells to explore the function and regulation of Dkk1 upon Bmi1 treatment. Overexpression of Dkk1 repressed differentiation, proliferation, and migration induced by Bmi1 but promoted the apoptosis of hepatic WB-F344 oval cells. In addition, Dkk1 reduced the enhancement of β-catenin levels induced by Bmi1. Finally, we used transcriptome sequencing to perform a comprehensive evaluation of the transcriptome-related changes in WB-F344 oval cells induced by Dkk1 and Bmi1. These results may provide evidence for future studies of the pathogenesis of HCC and the design of possible therapies.