Jianlin Wang^*1, Wenjie Song^*1, Weiwei Shen^†1, Xisheng Yang^*, Wei Sun^*, Sshibin Qu^*, Runze Shang^*, Ben Ma^*, Meng Pu^*, Kaishan Tao^*, Kefeng Dou^*, Haimin Li^*

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.2, pp. 281-282, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504019X15476499940873

Abstract MicroRNA-200a (miR-200a) is frequently downregulated in most cancer types and plays an important role in carcinogenesis and cancer progression. In this study, we determined that miR-200a was downregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and cell lines, consistent with the results of our previous study. Because a previous study suggested that downregulation of miR-200a is correlated with HCC metastasis, we aimed to elucidate the mechanism underlying the role of miR-200a in metastasis in HCC. Here we observed that overexpression of miR-200a resulted in suppression of HCC metastatic ability, including HCC cell migration, invasion, and metastasis, in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore,… More >

Zhongyuan Yin^*, Lin Yang^†, Feng Wu^‡, Jinshuo Fan^‡, Juanjuan Xu^‡, Yang Jin^‡, Guanghai Yang^§

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.9, pp. 1069-1077, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504019X15566157027506

Abstract Cysteine oxidation occurs at the active site of deubiquitinases (DUBs) during many biologic signaling cascades. Here we report that hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HCCs) generated higher levels of endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS). This elevated ROS production was inhibited by NADPH oxidase inhibitor diphenylene iodonium (DPI) and mitochondria electron chain inhibitor rotenone in HCC cells. Moreover, we found that H2O2 could activate NF- B-dependent inflammatory effect through increased induction of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2), MMP9, and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM1) expression levels. In addition, we found that H₂O₂ could prolong NF- B activation by suppressing the negative regulatory functions of… More >

Chao Jiang^*, Xueyan Liu^†, Meng Wang^*, Guoyue Lv^*, Guangyi Wang^*

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.9, pp. 1025-1034, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15456687424096

Abstract miR-802 has been reported to be dysregulated in multiple tumors and contribute to tumor progression. However, its role in HCC was still largely unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate the function and mechanism of miR-802 in HCC progression. The results showed that miR-802 was upregulated in the peripheral blood and tumor tissue of HCC patients, and high levels of blood miR-802 predicted poor prognosis. miR-802 had no effect on the proliferation and migration of HCC cell lines. Interestingly, the levels of CD8/CD28 and regulated in development and DNA damage response 1 (REDD1) were declined along with the… More >

Yue Cai^*†‡, Chizhi Zhang^*†‡, Lei Zhan^*†, Liangbin Cheng^*†, Dingbo Lu^*†, Xiaodong Wang^*†, Hanlin Xu^§, Shuxue Wang^¶, Deng Wu^*†, Lianguo Ruan^#

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.8, pp. 889-899, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15482423944678

Abstract The thorns of Gleditsia sinensis have been historically used in Chinese medicine and are considered one of the fundamental therapeutic herbs. Its anticancer effects are currently being explored. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer and still requires the development of new drugs with higher efficiency. By using a rat HCC model implanted with cancerous Walker-256 cells, the therapeutic effects of G. sinensis extract (GSE) were assessed, as well as its regulatory effects on miRNAs. GSE significantly restored liver morphology and dramatically induced cell apoptosis in HCC rats. In addition, miR-21/181b/183 was upregulated in the… More >

Qing Wei¹, Rui Zhu¹, Junying Zhu, Rongping Zhao, Min Li

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.7, pp. 827-834, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15462920753012

Abstract Emerging evidence suggests that 17β-estradiol (E2) and estrogen receptor (ER) signaling are protective against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In our previous study, we showed that E2 suppressed the carcinogenesis and progression of HCC by targeting NLRP3 inflammasome activation, whereas the molecular mechanism by which the NLRP3 inflammasome initiated cancer cell death was not elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of NLRP3 inflammasome activation on cell death pathways and autophagy of HCC cells. First, we observed an increasing mortality in E2-treated HCC cells, and then apoptotic and pyroptotic cell death were both detected. The mortality of HCC cells was… More >

Xinshan Cao^*, Ling Xu^†, Quanyuan Liu^*, Lijuan Yang^‡, Na Li^§, Xiaoxiao Li^*

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.3, pp. 301-309, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15213058045841

Abstract Our study aimed to investigate the roles and possible regulatory mechanism of miR-1277 in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC patients were identified from patients who were diagnosed with focal liver lesions using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The expression levels of miR-1277 in the serum of HCC patients and HepG2 cells were measured. Then miR-1277 mimic, miR-1277 inhibitor, or scramble RNA was transfected into HepG2 cells. The effects of miR-1277 overexpression and suppression on HepG2 cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were then investigated. Additionally, the expression levels of epithelial– mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related markers, including E-cadherin, -catenin, and vimentin, were… More >

Hong Ye^*, Qing Yang^†, Shujie Qi^*, Hairong Li^‡

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.5, pp. 613-621, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15410353669149

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has high morbidity and mortality rates, and the number of new cases and deaths from liver cancer are increasing. However, the details of the regulation in HCC remain largely unknown. Plant homeodomain finger protein 8 (PHF8) is a JmjC domain-containing protein. Recently, PHF8 was reported to participate in several types of cancer. However, the biological function and clinical significance of PHF8 in HCC remain unknown. In this study, we investigate the role of PHF8 in HCC growth and metastasis. We used bioinformatics analysis and identified the differentially expressed PHF8 in primary HCC and metastasis HCC. Immunohistochemistry analysis… More >

Ping Wen^*, Sheng-Duo Chen^*, Jia-Rui Wang^†, Ying-He Zeng^*

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.5, pp. 583-592, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15368325811545

Abstract This study evaluated the difference in treatment response and survival profiles between drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) and conventional transarterial chemoembolization (cTACE) treatments in Chinese hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. A total of 120 HCC patients were consecutively enrolled in this prospective cohort study, which showed that DEB-TACE achieved higher complete response (CR) (30.8%) compared with cTACE (7.4%) with no difference in overall response rate (ORR) for patients treated with DEB-TACE and cTACE (80.8% vs. 73.5%). In addition, DEB-TACE was associated with a lower rate of progressive disease (PD) compared with cTACE (1.9% vs. 11.8%). With respect to survival, patients in… More >

Qiaodong Xu¹, Songgang Gu¹, Jiahong Liang, Zhihua Lin, Shaodong Zheng, Jiang Yan

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.4, pp. 509-514, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15278771272963

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the major malignant tumors that lead to death. Chronic hepatitis B virus infection is an important risk factor for HCC initiation. HBx protein, encoded by the HBV X gene, is a significant factor that promotes HBV-related HCC, although the exact molecular mechanism remains unclear. This article summarizes the pathological roles and related mechanisms of HBx in HCC. HBx plays a carcinogenic role by promoting cell proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis and inhibiting apoptosis in HCC. A detailed study of the biological functions of HBx will help to elucidate the mechanism of hepatocarcinogenesis and lead to… More >

Guoyun Li, Wei Zhang, Li Gong, Xiaoping Huang

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.4, pp. 449-458, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504017X15016337254623

Abstract MicroRNAs, a class of endogenous noncoding RNAs, regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level and thus take part in multiple biological processes. An increasing number of miRNAs have been found to be dysregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and are involved in liver tumorigenesis. In this study, miR- 125a-5p was found to be obviously downregulated much more in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC. To investigate the effects of miR-125a-5p, miR-125a-5p was overexpressed in HepG2.2.15 and HepG3X cells. The findings have indicated that overexpression of miR-125a-5p dramatically inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-125a-5p could significantly decrease the… More >