TNF-α is a potential therapeutic target to overcome sorafenib resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma.
EBioMedicine
; 40: 446-456, 2019 Feb.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30594557
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The role of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in targeted therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains largely unknown. The current study aimed to clarify the mechanistic effects of targeting TNF-α to overcome sorafenib resistance in HCC.METHODS:
A correlation of TNF-α expression with the prognosis was analyzed in 62 HCC patients who underwent surgical resection and subsequent received adjuvant sorafenib treatment. The relation of TNF-α expression and sorafenib sensitivity was determined in different HCC cell lines. The combined therapeutic effects of sorafenib and ulinastatin, which could inhibit TNF-α expression, on HCC were examined in vitro and in vivo.FINDINGS:
High TNF-α expression was correlated with poor outcomes in HCC patients who received adjuvant sorafenib after surgery. In vitro experiments showed that TNF-α promotes HCC cell resistant to sorafenib through inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Notably, the current study revealed that sorafenib has no significant influence on the expression and secretion of TNF-α, and sorafenib had limited effectiveness on reversing EMT in HCC cells with high TNF-α expression. Inhibiting the expression of TNF-α with ulinastatin significantly enhanced the anti-tumor effect of sorafenib on HCC cells with high expression of TNF-α in vitro and in vivo.INTERPRETATION:
Our findings indicate that TNF-α may serve as a novel predictor of sorafenib sensitivity in HCC patients. Sorafenib combined with ulinastatin may improve the effectiveness of treatment of HCC in patients with high expression of TNF-α. FUND This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no.81572398; no.81672419), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (no. 2017A010105003; no.2015A050502023; no.2016A020216010), and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (no.2014A030313061; no. 2013B021800101).Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Fator de Necrose Tumoral alfa
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Carcinoma Hepatocelular
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Resistencia a Medicamentos Antineoplásicos
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Inibidores de Proteínas Quinases
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Sorafenibe
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Neoplasias Hepáticas
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
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Female
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Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
EBioMedicine
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
China