ObjectiveTo summarize the progress of radiomics in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and discuss its future direction, limitations and challenges. MethodWe retrieved the literature related to radiomics in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and made a review. ResultsTraditional hepatocellular carcinoma imaging examination, diagnosis and differential diagnosis had certain limitations. Radiomics as an emerging technology, it helped extract tissue biological information that could not be detected by the naked eye from high-throughput quantitative images and transform into high-dimensional qualitative quantitative data, and either alone or in combination with other clinical and molecular data such as demographics, histology, genomics or proteomics or other clinical and molecular data to solve clinical problems, such as hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis and differential diagnosis, staging and grading, therapeutic regimen development and predicting prognosis and survival after therapy, etc. At present, there were still several problems to be solved in radiomics, such as insufficient interpretability of the combined artificial intelligence-medical imaging approach, lack of uniform standards and lack of external validation, etc.ConclusionsThe study of radiomics in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma has been deepened and expanded to different degrees with great potential and application prospects. Radiomics brings greater benefits to the diagnosis, treatment and management of hepatocellular carcinoma patients, provides a new direction for optimizing medical decision-making and promoting the development of precision medicine. However, there are still some deficiencies and challenges to overcome in the radiomics technology and methods, which require extensive validation and optimization through further clinical trials.
Objective To evaluate application of anterior approach combined with selective hepatic vein(s) occlusion in associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) for giant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in right lobe. Method The clinical data of 9 patients underwent the ALPPS in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from January 2017 to September 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Results Six cases underwent the complete ALPPS, 3 cases lost because it couldn’t match the standard for the second step. After the first step, The average increased volume of the future liver remnant (FLR) was 139.1 cm3 (46.4–291.6 cm3), and the average increased volume rate of FLR was 37.8% (15.1%–76.2%). The average blood loss was 356 mL (200–600 mL). In the second step, 4 cases underwent the right hemihepatectomy and 2 cases underwent the extend right hemihepatectomy, the average blood loss was 617 mL (300–1 400 mL). There was no bile fistula, liver failure, and death. Conclusions Preliminary results of limited cases in this study show that application of anterior approach combined with selective hepatic vein(s) occlusion is a safe and feasible strategy in ALPPS for giant HCC in right lobe. This strategy is conformity with the " no touch” principle of oncology surgery, and reduces blood loss and decreases complications. Long-term oncological result of ALPPS in HCC patients with cirrhosis is unknown.
Primary liver cancer is the sixth most common malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) constitutes the majority of primary liver cancer cases. The Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) was introduced to standardize the lexicon, acquisition, interpretation, reporting, and data collection of imaging results in patients at increased risk for HCC. LI-RADS allows effective categorization of focal liver lesions, and has been applied in the full clinical spectrum of HCC from diagnosis, biological behavior characterization, prognosis prediction, to treatment response assessment. This review aimed to summarize the recent applications of CT/MRI LI-RADS in the diagnosis, biological behavior characterization and prognosis prediction of HCC, discuss current challenges and shed light on potential future directions.
Objective To explore the differential expressions of seven microRNAs between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and adjacent nontumorous tissues (NT), analyze the correlations between differential expressing microRNAs and the levels of tumor markers in serum, and furnish evidence for novel diagnostic and prognostic tool of HCC. Methods Real-time quantitative PCR technique was used to measure the differential expressions of seven microRNAs in HCC tissues compared with NT. Results Compared with NT, the relative expressions of seven microRNAs in HCC tissues manifested statistical difference (Plt;0.05). MiR-34c, miR-21, miR-16, and miR-10b presented higher expressions in the HCC samples than those in the NT samples, while miR-200a, miR-148b, and miR-Let-7i demonstrated lower expressions in the HCC samples than those in the NT samples. In addition, miR-200a and miR-148b were markedly down-regulated in the HCC tissues than those in the NT. The differential expressions of miR-200a in HCC compared with NT samples was correlated with serum AFP level of the patients (r=0.848 9, Plt;0.01), while the differential expressions of the other six microRNAs had no correlation with the levels of tumor markers in serum (Pgt;0.05). Conclusions There are differential expressions of microRNAs between HCC and NT. MiR-200a may serve as a novel diagnostic and prognostic tool of HCC.
【Abstract】ObjectiveTo analyse the current situation and advance in perioperative therapy of liver transplantation for primary hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).MethodsThe published papers on current situation and advance in the perioperative therapy of liver transplantation for HCC were reviewed.ResultsThe survival rate of liver transplantation for HCC in early stage has been the same as that for benign liver diseases up to now. However, it is still a difficult problem to improve the survival rate of liver transplantation for advanced HCC. The ideal perioperative therapies of liver transplantation for HCC should be helpful to suppress the growth of tumor while the HCC patients are waiting for donated livers, to diminish or eliminate the intraoperative spread or implantation of tumor cells and to repress the micrometastasis postoperatively. The current perioperative therapies of liver transplantation for HCC include hepatic arterial chemoembolization, systemic chemotherapy, radiotherapy, percutaneous ethanol injection into HCC and radiofrequency ablation etc. ConclusionThe perioperative assistant therapy of HCC can not only save time for patients before liver transplantation but also improve the survival rate after operation.
Objective To detect expression of miR-483-5p in surem of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and investigate it’s clinical significance for diagnosis of HCC. Methods The rerum samples of 112 patients with HCC (HCC group), 85 patients with chronic viral hepatitis B (CHB group), and 56 healthy people for physical examination (healthy control group) were collected from January 2010 to January 2012 in the First Hospital of Lanzhou University. According to the results of preliminary chip detection of miRCURY LNATM miRNA, the real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR was adopted to quantitate the serum levels of miR-483-5p and miR-500a and the routine electrochemical method was used to detect the serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP) in every group. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was utilized to analyze the diagnostic values of serum miR-483-5p, miR-500a, and AFP for the HCC. Results The serum levels of miR-483-5p and miR-500a in the HCC group were significantly higher than those of the CHB and healthy control groups (both P<0.000 1), which had no significant differences between the CHB group and the healthy control group (P>0.05). The serum miR-483-5p level of the HCC patient decreased markedly at the postoperative 30 d (P<0.000 1) as compared with the preoperative level. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of miR-483-5p, miR-500a, AFP, or miR-483-5p in combination with AFP for the diagnosis of the HCC was 0.74 (cutoff value=2.842, sensitivity=74% and specificity=66%), 0.66 (cutoff value=1.830, sensitivity=74% and specificity=51%), 0.81 (cutoff value=20 μg/L, sensitivity=78% and specificity=70%), and 0.92 (cutoff value=3.78, sensitivity=81% and specificity=83%), respectively. The AUC values of miR-483-5p in the diagnosis of the HCC patients with positive AFP (AFP>20 μg/L) and negative AFP (0–20 μg/L) were 0.78 and 0.83, respectively. Conclusions Serum miR-483-5p highly expresses in HCC, which has a certain accuracy in diagnosis of HCC, it combined with AFP could further increase its diagnostic value. Serum miR-483-5p might play an important supplemental role in diagnosis of HCC patient with negative AFP.
Objective To summarize the updates of diagnosis and differential diagnosis for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) for providing evidences for early diagnosis and treatment of PVTT patients. Methods The related literatures on diagnosis and differential diagnosis for HCC with PVTT in recent years were collected and reviewed. Results The serious complications and tumor metastasis are attributed to the PVTT, then it is necessary to make diagnosis accurately according to clinical symptoms, hematological and imaging examinations. The differential diagnosis of PVTT and portal vein thrombosis, portal sponge degeneration and hepatic arteriovenous shunt diseases should be carried out. Conclusions The diagnosis and differential diagnosis of PVTT cannot rely on a single method, and it requires a comprehensive judgment of various diagnostic methods. More accurate and specific diagnostic methods are needed.
ObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy, safety, and problems of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and their combination with other therapies in treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).MethodThe relevant literatures on the clinical trials of ICIs and their combination therapy in patients with advanced HCC in recent years were collected and reviewed.ResultsThe therapeutic effects of programmed death receptor 1 and its ligands and cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen 4 monoclonal antibodies in clinical trials of patients with advanced HCC were better, but the therapeutic effect of single drug was limited. Double immunotherapy and its combination with anti-angiogenesis inhibitors, molecular targeted drugs, and local therapy might make patients achieve more remarkable therapeutic effects, especially in combination with anti-angiogenesis inhibitors.ConclusionICIs could remarkably improve survival prognosis of patients with advanced HCC, combined immunotherapy has better survival benefits.
Objective To investigate immunological therapeutic effect and safety of dendritic cells (DCs) combined with heat shock protein 70 (HSP70)-peptide complex (PC) derived from autogeneic hepatoma tissue. Methods Thirty patients with hepatocellular carcinoma from February 2010 to February 2015 in the Gaochun People’s Hospital of Nanjing and The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University were studied, and subsequently were divided into an immunotherapy group (treated with HSP70-PC/DCs vaccine,n=15) and a chemotherapy group (n=15) according to the prescribed postoperative treatment methods. The levels of T lymphocyte subtypes were assayed by FACS. The toxicity adverse reactions, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), CA19-9, hepatic tumor recurrence rate, survival rate, and KPS of two groups patients were evaluated and compared between these two groups. Results ① The values of CD3+, CD4+, CD4+/CD8+, and CD3CD56 had no significant differences between the immunotherapy group and the chemotherapy group before treatment (P>0.05), which in the immunotherapy group were significantly higher than those in the chemotherapy group after treatment (P<0.05), and which were significantly higher in the immunotherapy group after treatment as compared with the levels before treatment (P<0.05), and which had no significant differences in the chemotherapy group between after treatment and before treatment (P>0.05). ② Before treatment, the levels of AFP and CA19-9 had no significant differences between the immunotherapy group and the chemotherapy group (P>0.05), which in the immunotherapy group were significantly lower than those in the chemotherapy group after treatment (P<0.05). In the immunotherapy group, the levels of AFP and CA19-9 after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment (t=2.564，P=0.021；t=2.011，P=0.041), which in the chemotherapy group before treatment were decreased as compared with the levels before treatment (t=2.221,P=0.036;t=2.487,P=0.066). ③ The patients treated with the HSP-PC/DCs vaccines was well tolerated and no obvious toxicity was appeared. ④ All the patients were followed up 5–19 months with median follow-up time of 9 months. The median survival time was 560 d and 436 d in the immunotherapy group and the chemotherapy group, respectively. After treatment, KPS score was significantly higher and recurrence rate was significantly lower in the immunotherapy group as compared with the chemotherapy group (P<0.05). The total survival had no significant difference between the immunotherapy group and the chemotherapy group (P>0.05). Conclusions The preliminary results of limited cases in this study show that HSP70-PC/DC vaccination is safe and effective in treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, the pulsed DCs are effective in activating specific T-cell responses against hepatocellular carcinoma cells. HSP70-PC/DC vaccine might improve immunity and prevent postoperative recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma.
Objective To explore the effects of DNA cross-linking repair 1B (DCLRE1B) gene on the migration and invasion ability of hepatocellular carcinoma cell. Methods Bioinformatics analysis was used to analyze the expression of DCLRE1B mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma, and its relationship with the prognosis and related influencing factors of patients. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of DCLRE1B protein in resected hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and their corresponding normal liver tissues. The DCLRE1B gene silenced Huh7 and HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines were constructed by lentivirus, and the transfected effect was detected by Western blot. The migration and invasion of DCLRE1B silenced hepatocellular carcinoma cells were detected by scratch test and Transwell method. The changes of genes related to epithelial mesenchymal transformation (EMT) after DCLRE1B silencing were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results ① The biological information analysis results showed that: The mRNA expression of DCLRE1B was highly expressed in a variety of tumors including hepatocellular carcinoma (P<0.05). The mRNA expression of DCLRE1B was associated with the TNM staging of tumor (P<0.05). The relative expression level of DCLRE1B mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma patients was related to their prognosis. The overall survival situation (P=0.038) and progression free survival situation (P=0.005) of hepatocellular carcinoma patients in the high expression group were worse than those in the low expression group. Univariate and multivariate Cox analysis showed that the expression of DCLRE1B gene was an independent factor affecting the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (P<0.05). ② The positive rate of DCLRE1B protein expression in resected hepatocellular carcinoma tissues was higher than that in normal liver tissues (P<0.05). ③ Cell experiment results showed that: After stable silencing DCLRE1B gene of hepatocellular carcinoma cell (Huh7 and HepG2) constructed by lentivirus, the expression of DCLRE1B protein was significantly down regulated (P<0.05). After silencing DCLRE1B gene, the migration and invasion ability of hepatocellular carcinoma cells were significantly decreased (P<0.05). After silencing DCLRE1B, the mRNA expressions of E-cadherin, matrix metalloproteinase 9, and β-catenin were up regulated (P<0.05), and the mRNA expressions of N-cadherin and Vimentin were down regulated (P<0.05), but the mRNA expression of zinc finger transcription factor had no significant change, and the difference was not statistically significant (P＞0.05). Conclusion Silencing DCLRE1B gene can inhibit the migration and invasion ability of hepatocellular carcinoma cells, and its mechanism may be related to the process of EMT.