RESUMO
BACKGROUND/AIM: Local recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after thermal coagulation therapy may be associated with an aggressive phenotypic change. This study focused on the thermal effects on HCC cells and evaluated the heat shock response and phenotypic changes after heat treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: HepG2 and HuH7 cells were used. After heat treatment at 37-50°C for 5-30 min, we assessed their survival rate, induction of heat shock protein (HSP)70 promoter, proliferation rate, induction of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer stem cell (CSC)-related markers. RESULTS: Induction of HSP70 promoter per surviving cell was maximized after 10 min of heat treatment at 48°C. Induction of EMT and CSC-related markers was also observed. CONCLUSION: Sub-lethal heat treatment causes large heat shock response to surviving HCC cells and induce EMT-like and CSC-like phenotypic changes that might contribute to increased aggressiveness.