A systematic review and meta-analysis of evaluation of serum interleukin 8 levels in hepatocellular carcinoma

Noncoding RNAs and programmed cell death in hepatocellular carcinoma: Significant role of epigenetic modifications in prognosis, chemoresistance, and tumor recurrence rate

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer with a high death rate in the world. The molecular mechanisms related to the pathogenesis of HCC have not been precisely defined so far. Hence, this review aimed to address the potential cross-talk between noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) and programmed cell death in HCC. All related papers in the English language up to June 2023 were collected and screened. The searched keywords in scientific databases, including Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar, were HCC, ncRNAs, Epigenetic, Programmed cell death, Autophagy, Apoptosis, Ferroptosis, Chemoresistance, Tumor recurrence, Prognosis, and Prediction. According to the reports, ncRNAs, comprising long ncRNAs, microRNAs, circular RNAs, and small nucleolar RNAs can affect cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis, as well as cell death-related processes, such as autophagy, ferroptosis, necroptosis, and apoptosis in HCC by regulating cancer-associated genes and signaling pathways, for example, phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinase/MAPK, and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways. It seems that ncRNAs, as epigenetic regulators, can be utilized as biomarkers in diagnosis, prognosis, survival and recurrence rates prediction, chemoresistance, and evaluation of therapeutic response in HCC patients. However, more scientific evidence is suggested to be accomplished to confirm these results.

Clinical and Prognostic Biomarker Value of Blood-Circulating Inflammatory Cytokines in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

INTRODUCTION

Circulating inflammatory cytokines play critical roles in tumor-associated inflammation and immune responses. Recent data have suggested that several interleukins (ILs) mediate carcinogenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the predictive and prognostic value of circulating ILs is yet to be validated. Our study aimed to evaluate the association of the serum ILs with overall survival (OS) and clinicopathologic features in a large cohort of HCC patients.

METHODS

We prospectively collected data and serum samples from 767 HCC patients treated at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center between 2001 and 2014, with a median follow-up of 67.4 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 52.5, 83.3). Biomarker association with OS was evaluated by the log-rank method.

RESULTS

The median OS in this cohort was 14.2 months (95% CI: 12, 16.1 months). Clinicopathologic features were more advanced, and OS was significantly inferior in patients with high circulating levels of IL1-R1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-15, IL-16, and IL-18.

CONCLUSION

Our study shows that several serum IL levels are valid prognostic biomarker candidates and potential targets for therapy in HCC.

Selective Internal Radiotherapy Alters the Profiles of Systemic Extracellular Vesicles in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is increasing globally. Radioembolization (RE)/selective internal radiotherapy (SIRT) is a promising treatment for inoperable HCC. RE triggers an immune response, involving extracellular vesicles (EVs) which are crucial for cell communication and tumor development. This study explores EV immune profiles and origins in patients with inoperable HCC before and after SIRT/RE. Blood samples from 50 HCC-patients treated with SIRT/RE were collected before and after therapy to determine cytokines and isolate EVs using size exclusion chromatography. The dynamic range and EV quality required for detecting variations in surface markers were assessed. Thirty-seven EV surface markers were analyzed using flow cytometry and correlated with clinical parameters. Several immunological markers (CD4, CD2, CD40, CD45, CD49e, CD69, CD209-EVs) were present in the circulation of HCC patients. These markers positively correlated with therapy response and survival. Conversely, B cell CD20, endothelial cell CD146, platelet CD49e, and CD41b EV markers negatively correlated with 60-day survival. Elevated levels of IL-6 and IL-8 before therapy correlated negatively with patient survival, coinciding with a positive correlation with CD20-positive EVs. Plasma EVs from HCC patients exhibit immunological, cancer, and coagulation markers, including potential biomarkers (CD4, CD20, CD49e, CD146). These may enhance our understanding of cancer biology and facilitate SIRT therapy monitoring.

Biomarkers for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: From Origin to Clinical Diagnosis

The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and HCC-related deaths has increased over the last few decades. There are several risk factors of HCC such as viral hepatitis (B, C), cirrhosis, tobacco and alcohol use, aflatoxin-contaminated food, pesticides, diabetes, obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and metabolic and genetic diseases. Diagnosis of HCC is based on different methods such as imaging ultrasonography (US), multiphasic enhanced computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and several diagnostic biomarkers. In this review, we examine the epidemiology of HCC worldwide and in Egypt as well as risk factors associated with the development of HCC and, finally, provide the updated diagnostic biomarkers for the diagnosis of HCC, particularly in the early stages of HCC. Several biomarkers are considered to diagnose HCC, including downregulated or upregulated protein markers secreted during HCC development, circulating nucleic acids or cells, metabolites, and the promising, recently identified biomarkers based on quantitative proteomics through the isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ). In addition, a diagnostic model used to improve the sensitivity of combined biomarkers for the diagnosis of early HCC is discussed.

Investigation of roles of IL-8 (+ 781 C/T) and MMP-2 (-735 C/T) gene variations in early diagnosis of bladder cancer and progression

BACKGROUND

The aim of our study is to investigate the roles of IL-8 (+ 781 C/T) and MMP-2 (-735 C/T) gene variations in early diagnosis and progression of BCA.

METHODS

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) methods were used to determine the genotype distributions of IL-8 (+ 781 C/T) and MMP-2 (-735 C/T) gene variations.

RESULTS

In our study, the genotype distributions of IL-8 (+ 781 C/T) and MMP-2 (-735 C/T) gene variations were not found to be significantly different between the patient and control groups. In addition, C and T allele frequencies for these gene variations were not different from the Hardy-Weinberg distribution in patient and control groups. However, when the combined genotype analyzes for these gene variations were evaluated, CC-CC and CT-CC combined genotypes for + 781 C/T / -735 C/T gene variations were observed significantly more in the patient group compared to other genotypes.

CONCLUSION

Although IL-8 (+ 781 C/T) and MMP-2 (-735 C/T) gene variations were not found to be genetic risk factors in the Thrace population in our study, CC-CC and CT-CC combined genotypes were determined as genetic risk factors for BCA susceptibility. The combined genotypes obtained as a result of the combined genotype analysis of these genetic variations that are effective in tumor progression may be considered to be important biomarkers for the early diagnosis and progression of BCA.

UDCA Inhibits Hypoxic Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell-Induced Angiogenesis Through Suppressing HIF-1α/VEGF/IL-8 Intercellular Signaling

Background: A hypoxic microenvironment may induce angiogenesis and promote the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to evaluate whether ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) may inhibit hypoxic HCC cell-induced angiogenesis and the possible mechanisms. Methods: Tube formation and matrigel plug angiogenesis assays were used to evaluate angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo, respectively. Real-time PCR, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and Western blot were used to evaluate the mRNA and protein expressions of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and IL-8, respectively. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was applied to assess the reporter gene expression of hypoxia-response element (HRE). Results: UDCA antagonized hypoxic Huh 7 cell-induced tube formation of EA.hy 926 cells. In HCC cells, UDCA inhibited hypoxia-induced upregulation of VEGF and IL-8 both in mRNA and protein levels. UDCA also inhibited IL-8-induced angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo through suppressing IL-8-induced phosphorylation of ERK. The levels of HIF-1α mRNA and protein and HRE-driven luciferase activity in HCC cells were upregulated by hypoxia and were all inhibited by UDCA. The proteasome inhibitor MG132 antagonized the effect of UDCA on HIF-1α degradation. In hypoxic condition, the phosphorylation of ERK and AKT was obviously increased in HCC cells, which was suppressed by UDCA. Transfection of the HIF-1α overexpression plasmid reversed the effects of UDCA on hypoxic HCC cell-induced angiogenesis, HRE activity, and expressions of IL-8 and VEGF. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that UDCA could inhibit hypoxic HCC cell-induced angiogenesis through suppressing HIF-1α/VEGF/IL-8-mediated intercellular signaling between HCC cells and endothelial cells.

Data Centric Molecular Analysis and Evaluation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Therapeutics Using Machine Intelligence-Based Tools

PURPOSE

Computational approaches have been used at different stages of drug development with the purpose of decreasing the time and cost of conventional experimental procedures. Lately, techniques mainly developed and applied in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), have been transferred to different application domains such as biomedicine.

METHODS

In this study, we conducted an investigative analysis via data-driven evaluation of potential hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) therapeutics in the context of AI-assisted drug discovery/repurposing. First, we discussed basic concepts, computational approaches, databases, modeling approaches, and featurization techniques in drug discovery/repurposing. In the analysis part, we automatically integrated HCC-related biological entities such as genes/proteins, pathways, phenotypes, drugs/compounds, and other diseases with similar implications, and represented these heterogeneous relationships via a knowledge graph using the CROssBAR system.

RESULTS

Following the system-level evaluation and selection of critical genes/proteins and pathways to target, our deep learning-based drug/compound-target protein interaction predictors DEEPScreen and MDeePred have been employed for predicting new bioactive drugs and compounds for these critical targets. Finally, we embedded ligands of selected HCC-associated proteins which had a significant enrichment with the CROssBAR system into a 2-D space to identify and repurpose small molecule inhibitors as potential drug candidates based on their molecular similarities to known HCC drugs.

CONCLUSIONS

We expect that these series of data-driven analyses can be used as a roadmap to propose early-stage potential inhibitors (from database-scale sets of compounds) to both HCC and other complex diseases, which may subsequently be analyzed with more targeted in silico and experimental approaches.

Evaluation of interleukin 8 polymorphisms (-251T/A and +781C/T) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis

Aim of the study

We reported the association between interleukin 8 (IL-8) polymorphisms (-251T/A and +781C/T) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk in a meta-analysis.

Material and methods

Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were searched until 21 November 2020. The analyses were performed by RevMan 5.3 software using odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Also, the analysis of publication bias was performed by CMA 2.0 software.

Results

Searching databases/sources, five articles including ten studies were entered into the meta-analysis. The pooled ORs for -251T/A polymorphism were 1.07 (p = 0.55), 1.04 (p = 0.75), 1.31 (p = 0.24), 1.24 (p = 0.31), and 1.85 (p = 0.29) for allele, homozygote, heterozygote, recessive and dominant models, respectively. With regards to +781C/T polymorphism, the pooled ORs were 0.74 (p = 0.07), 0.53 (p = 0.03), 0.83 (p = 0.41), 0.75 (p = 0.19), and 0.57 (p = 0.02) for allele, homozygote, heterozygote, recessive, and dominant models, respectively.

Conclusions

The findings of the meta-analysis showed a lack of significant association between IL-8 (-251T/A) polymorphism and the HCC risk, whereas the TT genotype of IL-8 (+781C/T) polymorphism had a protective role in HCC.

Common and Novel Markers for Measuring Inflammation and Oxidative Stress Ex Vivo in Research and Clinical Practice-Which to Use Regarding Disease Outcomes?

Many chronic conditions such as cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, type-2 diabetes, obesity, peripheral/coronary artery disease and auto-immune diseases are associated with low-grade inflammation. Closely related to inflammation is oxidative stress (OS), which can be either causal or secondary to inflammation. While a low level of OS is physiological, chronically increased OS is deleterious. Therefore, valid biomarkers of these signalling pathways may enable detection and following progression of OS/inflammation as well as to evaluate treatment efficacy. Such biomarkers should be stable and obtainable through non-invasive methods and their determination should be affordable and easy. The most frequently used inflammatory markers include acute-phase proteins, essentially CRP, serum amyloid A, fibrinogen and procalcitonin, and cytokines, predominantly TNFα, interleukins 1β, 6, 8, 10 and 12 and their receptors and IFNγ. Some cytokines appear to be disease-specific. Conversely, OS-being ubiquitous-and its biomarkers appear less disease or tissue-specific. These include lipid peroxidation products, e.g., F2-isoprostanes and malondialdehyde, DNA breakdown products (e.g., 8-OH-dG), protein adducts (e.g., carbonylated proteins), or antioxidant status. More novel markers include also -omics related ones, as well as non-invasive, questionnaire-based measures, such as the dietary inflammatory-index (DII), but their link to biological responses may be variable. Nevertheless, many of these markers have been clearly related to a number of diseases. However, their use in clinical practice is often limited, due to lacking analytical or clinical validation, or technical challenges. In this review, we strive to highlight frequently employed and useful markers of inflammation-related OS, including novel promising markers.

Impact of Angiogenesis- and Hypoxia-Associated Polymorphisms on Tumor Recurrence in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing Surgical Resection

Simple Summary

Hepatocellular carcinoma remains a leading cause of cancer-related death and the most common primary hepatic malignancy in the Western hemisphere. Previous research found that angiogenesis-related cytokines and elevated levels of interleukin 8 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) shorten the expected time of survival. Moreover, factors of tumor angiogenesis- and hypoxia-driven signaling pathways are already associated with worse outcome in disease-free survival in several tumor entities. Our study investigates the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma patients based on a selection of ten different single-nucleotide polymorphisms from angiogenesis, carcinogenesis, and hypoxia pathways. Our study with 127 patients found supporting evidence that polymorphisms in angiogenesis-associated pathways corelate with disease-free survival and clinical outcome in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Abstract

Tumor angiogenesis plays a pivotal role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) biology. Identifying molecular prognostic markers is critical to further improve treatment selection in these patients. The present study analyzed a subset of 10 germline polymorphisms involved in tumor angiogenesis pathways and their impact on prognosis in HCC patients undergoing partial hepatectomy in a curative intent. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues were obtained from 127 HCC patients at a German primary care hospital. Genomic DNA was extracted, and genotyping was carried out using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–restriction fragment length polymorphism-based protocols. Polymorphisms in interleukin-8 (IL-8) (rs4073; p = 0.047, log-rank test) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF C + 936T) (rs3025039; p = 0.045, log-rank test) were significantly associated with disease-free survival (DFS). After adjusting for covariates in the multivariable model, IL-8 T-251A (rs4073) (adjusted p = 0.010) and a combination of “high-expression” variants of rs4073 and rs3025039 (adjusted p = 0.034) remained significantly associated with DFS. High-expression variants of IL-8 T-251A may serve as an independent molecular marker of prognosis in patients undergoing surgical resection for HCC. Assessment of the patients’ individual genetic risks may help to identify patient subgroups at high risk for recurrence following curative-intent surgery.