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Fujiwara N, Nakagawa H. Clinico-histological and molecular features of hepatocellular carcinoma from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Cancer Sci 2023; 114:3825-3833. [PMID: 37545384 PMCID: PMC10551597 DOI: 10.1111/cas.15925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2023] [Revised: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) continue to increase with the epidemics of obesity, and NAFLD is estimated to become the most prevalent etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Recently, NAFLD-HCC has been recognized to have clinico-histologically and molecularly distinct features from those from other etiologies, including a lower incidence rate of HCC and less therapeutic efficacy to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Consistent with the clinical observations that up to 50% of NAFLD-HCC occurs in the absence of cirrhosis, the imbalance of pro- and antitumorigenic hepatic stellate cells termed as myHSC and cyHSC can contribute to the creation of an HCC-prone hepatic environment, independent of the absolute fibrosis abundance. Immune deregulations by accumulated metabolites in NAFLD-affected livers, such as a fatty-acid-induced loss of cytotoxic CD4 T cells serving for immune surveillance and "auto-aggressive" CXCR6+ CD8 T cells, may promote hepatocarcinogenesis and diminish therapeutic response to ICIs. Steatohepatitic HCC (SH-HCC), characterized by the presence of fat accumulation in tumor cells, ballooned tumor cells, Mallory-Denk body, interstitial fibrosis, and intratumor immune cell infiltration, may represent a metabolic reprogramming for adapting to a lipid-rich tumor microenvironment by downregulating CPT2 and leveraging its intermediates as an "oncometabolite." Genome-wide analyses suggested that SH-HCC may be more responsive to ICIs given its mutual exclusiveness with β-catenin mutation/activation that promotes immune evasion. Thus, further understanding of NAFLD-specific hepatocarcinogenesis and HCC would enable us to improve the current daily practice and eventually the prognoses of patients with NAFLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naoto Fujiwara
- Department of Gastroenterology and HepatologyGraduate School of Medicine, Mie UniversityTsu cityJapan
| | - Hayato Nakagawa
- Department of Gastroenterology and HepatologyGraduate School of Medicine, Mie UniversityTsu cityJapan
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Hsu CC, Gopalakrishna H, Mironova M, Lee MH, Chen CJ, Yang HI, Wiese M, Chang KM, Wright EC, Abijo T, Feld JJ, Kaplan DE. Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Spontaneous Clearance of Hepatitis C Virus and in Noncirrhosis Chronic Hepatitis C Patients With Sustained Virological Response: A Systematic Review. Clin Infect Dis 2023; 77:S245-S256. [PMID: 37579210 PMCID: PMC10425144 DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciad380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/16/2023] Open
Abstract
In a hepatitis C virus (HCV)-controlled human infection model (CHIM), healthy volunteers are inoculated with HCV and then treated. Residual hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk after viral clearance is an important consideration when evaluating the CHIM. We estimate HCC risk in spontaneously cleared HCV and in noncirrhosis after sustained virological response (SVR) to HCV treatment in a systematic review and using data from 3 cohorts: German anti-D, Taiwan, and US Veterans Affairs (VA). For noncirrhosis SVR, the overall HCC rate is 0.33 per 100 patient-years in meta-analysis. HCC rates for the German, Taiwan, and US Veterans Affairs cohorts are 0, 0.14, and 0.02 per 100 patient-years, respectively. Past hepatitis B virus exposure was not accounted for in the Taiwan cohort, while VA patients were likely tested based on liver disease/risk factors, which may confound HCC outcomes. The German cohort with no HCC after 44 years is most comparable to the CHIM participants. Although it is difficult to precisely estimate HCC risk from an HCV CHIM, the data suggest the risk to be very low or negligible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine C Hsu
- Liver Disease Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Harish Gopalakrishna
- Liver Disease Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Maria Mironova
- Liver Disease Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Mei-Hsuan Lee
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Chien-Jen Chen
- Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Hwai-I Yang
- Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Manfred Wiese
- Department of Hepatology, University Hospital Leipzig, East German HCV Study Group, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Kyong-Mi Chang
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Elizabeth C Wright
- Office of the Director, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Tomilowo Abijo
- Office of the Director, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Jordan J Feld
- Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Toronto Centre for Liver Disease, Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
- Toronto Viral Hepatitis Care Network, Toronto, Canada
| | - David E Kaplan
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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