Expression pattern of PD-1/PD-L1 in primary liver cancer with clinical correlation.

Immunotherapy, including ICIs, has emerged as an invaluable treatment option for advanced PLC. Nevertheless, the expression patterns of PD-L1 and PD-1 in PLC remain incompletely understood. In this study, the expression pattern and clinical correlation of PD-L1 and PD-1 were analysed in 5245 PLC patients. The positivity rates of PD-L1 and PD-1 were very low in the patient PLCs, but the positivity rates of PD-L1 and PD-1 were higher in the ICC and cHCC-ICC than in HCC. The expression of PD-L1 and PD-1 correlated with the malignant phenotypes and clinicopathological characteristics of PLC. Interestingly, PD-1 positivity might serve as an independent prognostic factor. Based on a systematic analysis of a large amount of PLC tissues, we proposed a novel classification of PD-1/PD-L1 expression in HCC and ICC. In light of this stratification, we observed a close correlation between PD-L1 levels and PD-1 expression in HCC and ICC.

Rational combination therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma with PARP1 and DNA-PK inhibitors.

Understanding differences in DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair between tumor and normal tissues would provide a rationale for developing DNA repair-targeted cancer therapy. Here, using knock-in mouse models for measuring the efficiency of two DSB repair pathways, homologous recombination (HR) and nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ), we demonstrated that both pathways are up-regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) compared with adjacent normal tissues due to altered expression of DNA repair factors, including PARP1 and DNA-PKcs. Surprisingly, inhibiting PARP1 with olaparib abrogated HR repair in HCC. Mechanistically, inhibiting PARP1 suppressed the clearance of nucleosomes at DNA damage sites by blocking the recruitment of ALC1 to DSB sites, thereby inhibiting RPA2 and RAD51 recruitment. Importantly, combining olaparib with NU7441, a DNA-PKcs inhibitor that blocks NHEJ in HCC, synergistically suppressed HCC growth in both mice and HCC patient-derived-xenograft models. Our results suggest the combined inhibition of both HR and NHEJ as a potential therapy for HCC.

The surgical outcomes and risk factors of giant hepatic haemangiomas: a single centre experience.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety of performing surgery on cavernous haemangiomas in the liver larger than 10 cm and establish preoperative predictors of intraoperative blood transfusion and morbidity. METHODS: A total of 373 patients with haemangiomas larger than 10 cm who underwent surgery in our hospital were retrospectively analysed. According to tumour diameter, the patients were divided into a giant haemangioma (GH) group (241 cases) (10 cm ≤ diameter < 15 cm) and an enormous haemangioma (EH) group (132 cases) (diameter ≥ 15 cm). Clinical parameters were then compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Compared with the GH group, the EH group had higher rates of leukopenia (10.6% vs. 4.5%), anaemia (26.5% vs. 15.7%), and thrombocytopenia (13.6% vs. 6.2%). The occlusion time in the EH group was longer than that in the GH group (26.33 ± 14.10 min vs. 31.85 ± 20.09 min, P < 0.01). The blood loss and blood transfusion in the EH group were greater than those in the GH group (P < 0.05). Moreover, the morbidity in the EH group was higher than that in the GH group (17.4% vs. 9.13%, P < 0.05). According to the results of the multivariable analysis, the operation time and size of the haemangioma may be independent risk factors for blood transfusion (P < 0.05). Additionally, the size of the haemangioma may be an independent risk factor associated with complications (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Enormous haemangioma is more likely to cause haematologic abnormalities than giant hepatic haemangioma. The risks of the operation and postoperative complications of enormous haemangioma are higher than those of giant hepatic haemangioma.

LncRNA ST8SIA6-AS1 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation and resistance to apoptosis by targeting miR-4656/HDAC11 axis.

BACKGROUND: Dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) results in development of human diseases including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although several HCC related lncRNAs have been reported, the biological functions of many lncRNAs during the development of HCC remains unknown. METHODS: The expression of ST8SIA6-AS1 was studied by realtime PCR (RT-qPCR) and bioinformatic analysis. The biological functions of ST8SIA6-AS1 was examined by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry analysis. The target of ST8SIA6-AS1 was analyzed by bioinformatic analysis and validated by dual luciferase reporter assay, western blotting and RT-qPCR. RESULTS: In this study we demonstrated that ST8SIA6-AS1 was an upregulated lncRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma. SiRNA-mediated knockdown of ST8SIA6-AS1 repressed cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis in HCC cells. Bioinformatic analysis and RT-qPCR further showed that ST8SIA6-AS1 mainly located in cytoplasm. Dual luciferase reporter assay further revealed that ST8SIA6-AS1 interacted with miR-4656 in HCC cells. In addition, HDAC11 was identified as a target gene in HCC cells and ST8SIA6-AS1 could upregulate HDAC11 via sponging miR-4656. Transfection of recombinant HDAC11 partially rescued the inhibition of cell proliferation and increase of cell apoptosis inducing by knockdown of ST8SIA6-AS1. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our findings suggested that ST8SIA6-AS1 was a novel upregulated lncRNA in HCC and could facilitate cell proliferation and resistance to cell apoptosis via sponging miR-4656 and elevation of HDAC11, which might be a promising biomarker for patients with HCC.

LncRNA FOXD2-AS1 as a competitive endogenous RNA against miR-150-5p reverses resistance to sorafenib in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The current study elucidated the role of a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), FOXD2-AS1, in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the regulatory mechanism underlying FOXD2-AS1/miR-150-5p/transmembrane protein 9 (TMEM9) signalling in HCC. Microarray analysis was used for preliminary screening of candidate lncRNAs in HCC tissues. qRT-PCR and Western blot analyses were used to detect the expression of FOXD2-AS1. Cell proliferation assays, luciferase assay and RNA immunoprecipitation were performed to examine the mechanism by which FOXD2-AS1 mediates sorafenib resistance in HCC cells. FOXD2-AS1 and TMEM9 were significantly decreased and miR-150-5p was increased in SR-HepG2 and SR-HUH7 cells compared with control parental cells. Overexpression of FOXD2-AS1 increased TMEM9 expression and overcame the resistance of SR-HepG2 and SR-HUH7 cells. Conversely, knockdown of FOXD2-AS1 decreased TMEM9 expression and increased the sensitivity of HepG2 and Huh7 cells to sorafenib. Our data also demonstrated that FOXD2-AS1 functioned as a sponge for miR-150-5p to modulate TMEM9 expression. Taken together, our findings revealed that FOXD2-AS1 is an important regulator of TMEM9 and contributed to sorafenib resistance. Thus, FOXD2-AS1 may serve as a therapeutic target against sorafenib resistance in HCC.

Whole-exome sequencing of duodenal adenocarcinoma identifies recurrent Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway mutations.

BACKGROUND: Genomic alterations of small bowel cancers remain poorly understood due to the rarity of these diseases. In the current study, the authors report the identification of somatic mutations from patients with duodenal adenocarcinoma by whole-exome sequencing. METHODS: Whole-exome sequencing and follow-up analysis were conducted in 12 matched tumor-normal tissue duodenal adenocarcinoma tissue pairs to examine the genetic characteristics of this disease. Somatic mutations (single-nucleotide variants and short insertion/deletions) were obtained and filtered and then searched for recurrently mutated genes and pathways. RESULTS: An excess of C-to-T transitions at the CpG dinucleotide was observed in the substitution of bases. The authors identified recurrent mutations in tumor protein p53 (TP53), KRAS, catenin (cadherin-associated protein) ß-1 (CTNNB1), AT-rich interactive domain 2 (ARID2), adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (ERBB2), ARID1A, cadherin-related family member 1 (CDHR1), NRAS, Bcl-2-related ovarian killer (BOK), radial spoke head 14 homolog (chlamydomonas) (RTDR1), cell division cycle 27 (CDC27), catalytic subunit of phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PIK3CA), and SMAD family member 4 (SMAD4). Pathway scan indicated that the Wnt signaling pathway, regulation of the actin cytoskeleton pathway, ErbB signaling pathway, and the pathway of focal adhesion were the most extensively affected pathways. CONCLUSIONS: This genomic characterization of duodenal adenocarcinoma provides researchers with insight into its somatic landscape and highlights the vital role of the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. The study data also indicate that duodenal adenocarcinomas have a genetic resemblance to gastric and colorectal cancers. These discoveries may benefit the future development of molecular diagnosis and personalized therapies. Cancer 2016;122:1689-96. © 2016 American Cancer Society.

Overexpression of miR-218 inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth through RET.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer in the world with poor prognosis. Here, we investigated the role of microRNA 218 (miR-218) in regulating human HCC development. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to compare the expression levels of miR-218 between eight HCC and a normal liver cell lines, as well as nine primary HCC tissues and adjacent non-carcinoma tissues. HCC cell lines MHCC97L and Huh7 were transfected with lentiviral vector of miR-218 mimics. The effect of miR-218 overexpression on cancer cell growth, both in vitro and in vivo, as well as cancer cell invasion was examined. A bioinformatic method was used to predict the binding of miR-218 to RET proto-oncogene (RET). Small interfering RNA (SiRNA)-mediated genetic knock-down of RET was performed in MHCC97L and Huh7 cells, and its modulatory effect on miR-218-mediated HCC development was examined. miR-218 was found to be downregulated in HCC cell lines and primary HCC tissues. Overexpression of miR-218 in MHCC97L or Huh7 cells resulted in significant decrease in cell proliferation and invasion capability. Overexpression of miR-218 also reduced the tumor growth of xenografted Huh7 cells in vivo. The expression of endogenous RET was found to be upregulated by miR-218, and siRNA-induced RET downregulation resulted in phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) upregulation and reversal of the inhibitory effect of miR-218 upregulation on HCC proliferation. Our results indicate that miR-218 modulates HCC development, and this effect may be through RET and PTEN.

Hepatic resection for multiple hepatocellular carcinoma less than 5 cm: a prospective comparative study.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Treatment of multiple hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a critical issue. In addition, the prognosis and prognostic factors of multiple HCC after hepatic resection are rarely prospectively documented. METHODOLOGY: The clinicopathologic and follow-up data of 81 patients who underwent curative resection of HCC between January 2008 and January 2009 were prospectively collected. Patients were categorized according to the size of the largest tumor: group A (n = 40, two or three HCCs with maximum tumor diameter > 3 cm and < or = 5 cm) and group B (n = 41, two or three HCCs with maximum tumor diameter < or = 3 cm). The two groups were compared for clinicopathologic data and survival results. RESULTS: The 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year survival rates of group A were 75.0%, 58.0%, 50.0%, and 44.0%, respectively, while the survival rates of group B were 93.0%, 80.0%, 66.0%, and 47.0%, respectively. The 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year disease-free survival rates of group A were 43.0%, 30.0%, 23.0%, and 15.0%, respectively, comparing to 71.0%, 54.0%, 44.0%, and 36.0% in group B, respectively. The median overall cumulative survival time of group A and group B were 36.0 and 44.5 months, respectively (P = 0.322). The median disease-free survival time of group A was 10.0 months and was significantly shorter than that of group B (30.0 months, P = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS: Resection may provide comparative survival benefits even for patients with multiple HCCs with maximum tumor diameter > 3 cm and < or = 5 cm.

[Application of total hemihepatic vascular exclusion in liver resection for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and impaired liver function].

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical value of total hemihepatic vascular exclusion (THHVE) in liver resection for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and impaired liver function. METHODS: The data of 70 patients who underwent liver resection for HCC with impaired liver function between January 2009 and October 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. THHVE was applied in 38 patients (THHVE group), Pringle maneuver in 25 patients (Pringle group) and no vascular occlusion in 7 patients. In the THHVE group, 36 patients were male, 2 were female, average age was (54 ± 9) years. And in Pringle group, 23 patients were male, 2 were female, average age was (53 ± 10) years. Total intraoperative blood loss, blood transfusion rate, clamping time, postoperative complication rate, postoperative hospital stay and postoperative liver function were compared between the THHVE and Pringle group. RESULTS: Total blood loss ((317 ± 186) ml vs. (506 ± 274) ml, t = -3.025, P = 0.004) and transfusion rate (10.5% vs. 32.0%, χ(2) = 4.509, P = 0.034) were significantly lower in the THHVE group than in the Pringle group. Although the clamping time was longer ((21 ± 5) minutes vs. (17 ± 5) minutes, t = 3.209, P = 0.002), the total bilirubin levels on postoperative day 3 and 7 and ALT levels on postoperative day 1, 3, 7 were significantly lower in the THHVE group than in the Pringle group, and the pre-albumin level on postoperative day 7 was higher in the THHVE group than in the Pringle group. Total complication rate (26.3% vs. 52.0%, χ(2) = 4.291, P = 0.038) and major complication rate (7.9% vs. 28.0%, χ(2) = 4.565, P = 0.033) were lower in the THHVE group than in the Pringle group. And postoperative hospital stay duration was shorter in the THHVE group than in the Pringle group ((14.0 ± 2.6) d vs. (16.4 ± 4.0) d, t = -2.625, P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: THHVE is a safe and effective technique in liver resection for patients with HCC and impaired liver function. It is associated with less blood loss, lower transfusion requirements, better postoperative liver function recovery, lower postoperative complication rate and shorter postoperative hospital stay.

Adjuvant stereotactic body radiotherapy after marginal resection for hepatocellular carcinoma with microvascular invasion: A randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Marginal resection frequently occurred in hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), leading to increased local recurrence, especially among patients with microvascular invasion (MVI). Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) showed effectiveness in controlling tumour and tumour thrombosis. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of SBRT, targeting on suboptimal resection margin, as adjuvant setting in MVI-positive HCC. METHODS: This was a single-centre randomised controlled trial conducted in Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Shanghai, China. Participants with MVI-positive HCC receiving marginal resection were randomly assigned to the postoperative adjuvant SBRT or surgery alone (SA) group. SBRT was delivered by the CyberKnife® system with marker tracking devices, targeting on resection margin one month after surgery. The disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared between the groups, and the adverse events (AEs) were monitored. This trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04891874. FINDINGS: A total of 76 participants were enrolled, with 38 in each group. The one-, three-, and five-year DFS rates were 92.1%, 65.8%, and 56.1% in SBRT group versus 76.3%, 36.8%, and 26.3% in SA group, respectively (p = 0.005). The one-, three-, and five-year OS rates were 100%, 89.5%, and 75.0% in SBRT group versus 100.0%, 68.4%, and 53.7% in SA group, respectively (p = 0.053). The total dose of SBRT for single participant was 35 Gy, and the biological effective dose (BED) was 59.5 Gy. The overall incidence of radiotherapy-related AE was 31.6% (12/38), and no grade 3 or higher grade AE was developed. INTERPRETATION: SBRT on the resection margin provides a safe therapeutic modality of adjuvant setting in MVI-positive HCC with suboptimal resection margin. It prevents local recurrence and improves DFS. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04891874.

A let-7/Fas double-negative feedback loop regulates human colon carcinoma cells sensitivity to Fas-related apoptosis.

Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) is considered essential for the regulation of anti-tumor reactions as it sensitizes Fas-related apoptosis in HT29 cells, but the mechanism is unclear. In the current study, our data demonstrated that IFN-γ stimulation and Fas activation suppressed Dicer processing and let-7 microRNA biogenesis, while let-7 microRNA strongly inhibited Fas expression by directly targeting Fas mRNA. Accordingly, our results indicate that Fas and let-7 microRNAs form a double-negative feedback loop in IFN-γ and Fas induced apoptosis in colon carcinoma cell line HT29, which may be an important synergistic mechanism in anti-tumor immune response. We also found that a let-7 microRNA inhibitor increased Fas expression and sensitized cells to Fas-related apoptosis, which may have future implications in colon carcinoma therapy.

Bioinformatics profiling identifies seven immune-related risk signatures for hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Density of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and expressions of certain immune-related genes have prognostic and predictive values in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, factors determining the immunophenotype of HCC patients are still unclear. In the current study, the transcript sequencing data of liver cancer were systematically analyzed to determine an immune gene marker for the prediction of clinical outcome of HCC. METHODS: RNASeq data and clinical follow-up information were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the samples were assigned into high-stage and low-stage groups. Immune pathway-related genes were screened from the Molecular Signatures Database v4.0 (MsigDB) database. LASSO regression analysis was performed to identify robust immune-related biomarkers in predicting HCC clinical outcomes. Moreover, an immune gene-related prognostic model was established and validated by test sets and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) external validation sets. RESULTS: We obtained 319 immune genes from MsigDB, and the genes have different expression profiles in high-stage and low-stage of HCC. Univariate survival analysis found that 17 genes had a significant effect on HCC prognosis, among them, 13 (76.5%) genes were prognostically protective factors. Further lasso regression analysis identified seven potential prognostic markers (IL27, CD1D, NCOA6, CTSE, FCGRT, CFHR1, and APOA2) of robustness, most of which are related to tumor development. Cox regression analysis was further performed to establish a seven immune gene signature, which could stratify the risk of samples in training set, test set and external verification set (p < 0.01), and the AUC in both training set and test set was greater than 0.85, which also greater compared with previous studies. CONCLUSION: This study constructed a 7-immunogenic marker as novel prognostic markers for predicting survival of HCC patients.

Epigenome-wide DNA methylation profiling of portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) tissues in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

Aberrant methylation is a hallmark of hepatocellular carcinoma and plays an important role in tumor initiation and progression. However, the epigenome-wide methylation patterns of portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTTs) have not been fully explored. Here, we performed epigenome-wide DNA methylation of adjacent normal tissues (ANTs), paired tumor tissues and paired PVTTs using an Infinium HumanMethylation450 array (n = 11) and conducted the Sequenom EpiTYPER assays to confirm the aberrantly methylated genes. MTS and apoptosis assay were used to assess the synergistic effect of two drugs on the HCC cell lines. We found the mean global methylation levels of HCC tissues and PVTTs were significantly lower than ANTs (P < 0.01). A total of 864 differentially methylated CpG sites annotated in 532 genes were identified between HCC tissues and paired PVTTs (|mean methylation difference|>10%, P < 0.005). The pathway analysis based on hypermethylated genes in PVTT tissues was interestingly enriched in regulation of actin cytoskeleton pathway (P = 4.48E-5). We found 23 genes whose methylation levels were gradually alternated in HCC tissues and PVTTs. Aberrant methylation status of TNFRSF10A, ZC3H3 and SLC9A3R2 were confirmed in a validation cohort (n = 48). The functional experiments demonstrated the combination of decitabine (DAC) and tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (rh-TRAIL) could synergistically suppress the proliferation and induce apoptosis in SK-Hep-1 and Huh7 cell lines. Together, our findings indicated that DNA methylation plays an important role in the PVTT formation through regulating the metastasis-related pathways. The combination of DAC and rh-TRAIL might be a promising treatment strategy for HCC.

circFN1 Mediates Sorafenib Resistance of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells by Sponging miR-1205 and Regulating E2F1 Expression.

In recent years, circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been shown to have critical regulatory roles in the resistance to anti-cancer drugs. However, the contributions of circRNAs to sorafenib resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain largely unknown. The present study aims to explore the involvement of circFN1 in sorafenib resistance and how circFN1 is associated with the miR-1205/E2F1 pathway, which have been demonstrated to mediate this resistance in HCC cells. We investigated the expression of circRNAs in five paired sorafenib-sensitive HepG2 cells and sorafenib-resistant (SR)-HepG2 cells by microarray analysis. The quantitative real-time PCR analysis was used to investigate the expression pattern of circFN1 in HCC patient tissues and cell lines. Then, the effects of circFN1 on sorafenib resistance, cell proliferation, and apoptosis were assessed in HCC in vitro and in vivo. In this study, circFN1 was observed to be upregulated in HCC patient tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of circFN1 in HCC was significantly correlated with aggressive characteristics and served as an independent risk factor for overall survival in patients with HCC. Our in vivo and in vitro data indicated that inhibition of circFN1 enhances the sorafenib sensitivity of HCC cells. Mechanistically, we found that circFN1 could promote the expression of E2F1 by sponging miR-1205. In summary, our study demonstrated that circFN1 contributes to sorafenib resistance by regulating the miR-1205/E2F1 signaling pathway. These results indicate that circFN1 may represent a potentially valuable target for overcoming sorafenib resistance for HCC.

Long Non-Coding RNA SNHG14 Contributes to the Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma via Sponging miR-217.

BACKGROUND: Thousands of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been functionally verified as crucial regulators of physiological processes and disease progressions, yet their roles in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been clearly illuminated. METHODS: We analyzed the expression of lncRNA-SNHG14 in TCGA data via bioinformatic analysis and detected its expression in HCC specimens by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Loss-of-function experiments were used to study the biological function of SNHG14 in HCC cells. RT-qPCR, Western blotting and dual-luciferase reporter assay were carried out to investigate the molecular mechanism of SNHG14 in HCC. RESULTS: The upregulation of lncRNA-SNHG14 was observed in HCC tissues compared with normal tissues via RT-qPCR and bioinformatic analysis of TCGA data. Silencing of SNHG14 inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis in HCC cells. microRNA-217 (miR-217), the tumor-suppressive miRNA in HCC, was predicted and confirmed as a miRNA sponged by SNHG14 in HCC cells. Via downregulation of miR-217, SNHG14 increased the expression of several miR-217-related oncogenes and subsequently activated oncogene-related signaling pathways in HCC cells. In addition, inhibition of miR-217 reversed SNHG14 silencing induced decrease of cell proliferation and increase of cell apoptosis. Their association was verified in the published microarray dataset and the collected HCC samples. CONCLUSION: In summary, SNHG14 is involved in the development of HCC via sponging miR-217 and it may be a biomarker for patients with HCC.

The association between methylation patterns of DNAH17 and clinicopathological factors in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignancy with poor prognosis. Complex genetic and epigenetic alterations are the two primary causes of HCC. The aim of the study was mainly to explore the correlation between the methylation status of DNAH17 and HCC. METHODS: We evaluated the methylation levels of DNAH17 in 163 HCC samples and their paired normal tissue using Sequenom EpiTYPER assays and performed the TaqMan copy number assay to assess the copy number status of DNAH17 in HCC samples. RESULTS: The mean methylation levels were significantly decreased in the tumor tissues compared to the paired normal tissues in both selected regions of DNAH17 (amplicon 1:58.7% vs 84.5%, P < 0.0001; amplicon 2:69.9% vs 84.5%, P = 0.0060). Contrarily，both RNA-seq and immunohistochemistry indicated the expression of DNAH17 was increased in tumor tissues (P < 0.05). DNMT inhibitor decitabine treatment could increase the expression of DNAH17 in HCC cell lines. DNAH17 gene amplification always companied with hypomethylation status. Moreover, hypomethylation status was associated with several clinical characteristics, such as male patients, higher AFP values, higher age of onset, fibrous capsules, tumor necrosis, liver cirrhosis, and tumor thrombus (P < 0.05). Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated the methylation levels of DNAH17 could efficiently predict the existence of the fibrous capsule (AUC = 0.695) and tumor thrombus (AUC = 0.806). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggested that aberrant methylation of DNAH17 was associated with comprehensive HCC clinicopathological factors and could be a promising biomarker for tumor thrombosis in HCC patients.

lncRNA AK054386 Functions as a ceRNA to Sequester miR-199 and Induce Sustained Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Hepatic Reperfusion Injury.

Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is a very complex pathological process that is often associated with liver trauma and surgery, especially liver transplantation surgery. Although endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) plays a role in this process, the posttranscriptional regulators and the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. Here, we report that the lncRNA AK054386 was increased in hepatic IRI models. Furthermore, AK054386 can act as a "competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA)" and regulate ERS-related factors by binding and sequestering miR-199, which was shown to inhibit ERS in our previous report. Increased expression of AK054386, which might be mediated by activated NF-κB, resulted in sustained ERS and increased cell apoptosis and death in hepatic IRI mouse and cellular models. In contrast, AK054386 inhibition had protective effects on these models. Our data indicate that AK054386 and miR-199 are critical players in hepatic IRI, and we broadened the scope regarding ceRNA mechanisms. We hope that our results will improve the understanding of hepatic IRI and may provide potential therapeutic targets.

Liver resection is justified for multinodular hepatocellular carcinoma in selected patients with cirrhosis: A multicenter analysis of 1,066 patients.

BACKGROUND: The role of liver resection for multinodular (≥3 nodules) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear, especially among patients with severe underlying liver disease. We sought to evaluate surgical outcomes among patients with cirrhosis and multinodular HCC undergoing liver resection. METHODS: Using a multicenter database, outcomes among cirrhotic patients who underwent curative-intent resection of HCC were examined stratified according to the presence or absence of multinodular disease. Perioperative mortality and morbidity, as well as overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Among 1066 cirrhotic patients, 906 (85.0%) had single- or double-nodular HCC (the non-multinodular group), while 160 (15.0%) had multinodular HCC (the multinodular group). There were no differences in postoperative 30-day mortality and morbidity among non-multinodular versus multinodular patients (1.8% vs. 1.9%, P = 0.923, and 36.0% vs. 39.4%, P = 0.411, respectively). In contrast, 5-year OS and RFS of multinodular patients were worse compared with non-multinodular patients (34.6% vs. 58.2%, and 24.7% vs. 44.5%, both P < 0.001). On multivariable analyses, tumor numbers ≥5, total tumor diameter ≥8 cm and microvascular invasion were independent risk factors for decreased OS and RFS after resection of multinodular HCC in cirrhotic patients. CONCLUSIONS: Liver resection can be safely performed for multinodular HCC in the setting of cirrhosis with an overall 5-year survival of 34.6%. Tumor number ≥5, total tumor diameter ≥8 cm and microvascular invasion were independently associated with decreased OS and RFS after resection in cirrhotic patients with multinodular HCC.

Primary hepatic neuroendocrine neoplasm: Long-time surgical outcome and prognosis.

Primary hepatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PHNENs) represent a kind of rare liver tumor and its clinical features and prognosis remain unclear. This study aims to reveal the long-term therapeutic outcome of PHNEN and to present its prognostic feature.A retrospective designed, single-center study containing 22 patients with PHNENs receiving surgical resections was done. Clinical data were reviewed and long-term follow-up was updated. Survival analysis was tried to find the prognostic factors.Nine patients recurred (recurrence rate = 40.9%) and 6 patients died on the disease. The actual 1-, 3-, and 5-year recurrence-free survival rate were 86.4%, 63.6%, and 52.9%, respectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rate were 95.5%, 81.8%, and 64.7%, respectively. Median overall survival for group G1, G2, and G3 were 69, 67, and 42 months, respectively.Patients with PHNEN can have a long survival after radical surgical resection, especially when the tumor proliferative grade exhibits lower (G1/2).

Repression of let-7a cluster prevents adhesion of colorectal cancer cells by enforcing a mesenchymal phenotype in presence of liver inflammation.

The liver is the most common site of metastasis in patients with colorectal cancer, and colorectal cancer liver metastasis (CRLM) is associated with poor rates of survival. However, CRLM occurs infrequently in livers exhibiting signs of hepatitis or cirrhosis, suggesting a role for inflammation in attenuating CRLM. The molecular mechanisms driving this phenomenon remain unclear. The aim of this study was to confirm the mechanism by which liver inflammation inhibits CRLM. We used BALB/c animal models of inflammatory liver diseases to confirm that liver inflammation inhibits CRLM, and then elucidated the molecular mechanisms governing that process. Out data showed that liver inflammation induces IFN-γ expression, which then downregulates expression of the let-7a cluster through IRF-1 in colorectal cancer cells. Finally, we showed that modulation of let-7a expression regulated the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in colorectal cancer cell lines, and inhibited their capacity to metastasize in vivo. Cumulatively, we clarified the critical role played by the IFN-γ/IRF-1/let-7a cluster/EMT pathway in regulating the spread of circulating colorectal cancer cells to the liver, and highlighted the critical role that the hepatitis microenvironment plays in modulating that process.