JIAN TANG¹, CHENQIANG ZHU¹, YUN CHEN¹, YUNLONG WU¹, MING HE¹, YI ZHOU², MINGHUA XIE^2,*

BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.4, pp. 639-651, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2024.047562

Abstract Background: The specific impact of sphingolipid metabolism on developing hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. This study aims to explore the relationship between sphingolipid metabolism and HCC prognosis, immune response, and drug sensitivity. Methods: Data were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-Hepatocellular Carcinoma (LIHC) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO, GSE14520 datasets). 47 sphingolipid metabolism genes were obtained from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database. After classifying HCC samples using the Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) clustering method, differentially expressed genes were screened. Then, 8 risk genes were obtained by univariate analysis, survival random forest reduction and lasso analysis.… More > Graphic Abstract

XINFENG ZHANG^1,2,#, SHUANG LI^2,#, MEIRU SONG^1,2, YUE CHEN³, LIANGZHENG CHANG³, ZHERUI LIU⁴, HONGYUAN DAI³, YUTAO WANG⁴, GANGQI YANG³, YUN JIANG^5,6,*, YINYING LU^1,2,*

Oncology Research, Vol.32, No.4, pp. 679-690, 2024, DOI:10.32604/or.2024.046231

Abstract Liver cancer is a prevalent malignant cancer, ranking third in terms of mortality rate. Metastasis and recurrence primarily contribute to the high mortality rate of liver cancer. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has low expression of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), which increases the risk of metastasis and recurrence. Nevertheless, the efficacy of FAK phosphorylation inhibitors is currently limited. Thus, investigating the mechanisms by which FAK affects HCC metastasis to develop targeted therapies for FAK may present a novel strategy to inhibit HCC metastasis. This study examined the correlation between FAK expression and the prognosis of HCC. Additionally, we explored the impact of… More >

JUN LIU^1,2,3,#, WENLI LI³, RUYUE LU^1,2, JIAQING XU^1,2, CHUNHUI JIANG⁴, JUNLIN DUAN³, LINGZHI ZHANG^1,#,*, GUANFU WANG¹, JIAXI CHEN^1,2,#,*

Oncology Research, Vol.32, No.4, pp. 717-726, 2024, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.043575

Abstract The long non-coding RNA, Negative Regulator of Antiviral Response (NRAV) has been identified as a participant in both respiratory virus replication and immune checkpoints, however, its involvement in pan-cancer immune regulation and prognosis, particularly those of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), remains unclear. To address this knowledge gap, we analyzed expression profiles obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, comparing normal and malignant tumor tissues. We found that NRAV expression is significantly upregulated in tumor tissues compared to adjacent nontumor tissues. Kaplan-Meier (K-M) analysis revealed the prognostic power of NRAV, wherein overexpression was significantly linked to reduced overall survival in a… More >

LU ZHANG^*, JINGUO CHU^*, YUSHAN YU

Oncology Research, Vol.32, No.4, pp. 703-716, 2024, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.030988

Abstract Background: Limited research has been conducted on the influence of autophagy-associated long non-coding RNAs (ARLncRNAs) on the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: We analyzed 371 HCC samples from TCGA, identifying expression networks of ARLncRNAs using autophagy-related genes. Screening for prognostically relevant ARLncRNAs involved univariate Cox regression, Lasso regression, and multivariate Cox regression. A Nomogram was further employed to assess the reliability of Riskscore, calculated from the signatures of screened ARLncRNAs, in predicting outcomes. Additionally, we compared drug sensitivities in patient groups with differing risk levels and investigated potential biological pathways through enrichment analysis, using consensus clustering to identify subgroups… More >

YANAN MA¹, SHANSHAN WANG^2,*, HUIGUO DING^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.3, pp. 463-471, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2024.048244

Abstract Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor with poor prognosis and high mortality worldwide. Although cystathionine-gamma-lyase (CSE) plays an important role in the development of multiple tumors, the clinical implication and potential mechanisms of CSE in HCC development remain elusive. Methods: In our study, the CSE expression in HCC was analyzed in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets and further confirmed by RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry assays in HCC samples. Furthermore, the associations between CSE expression and HCC malignancy as well as survival were analyzed in GSE14520 and validated in HCC patients. Finally, the… More >

ELHAM AMJAD¹, RAFFAELE PEZZANI^2,3,*, BABAK SOKOUTI^1,*

Oncology Research, Vol.32, No.3, pp. 439-461, 2024, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.044473

Abstract Noncoding RNAs instruct the Cas9 nuclease to site-specifically cleave DNA in the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Despite the high incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the patient’s outcome is poor. As a result of the emergence of therapeutic resistance in HCC patients, clinicians have faced difficulties in treating such tumor. In addition, CRISPR/Cas9 screens were used to identify genes that improve the clinical response of HCC patients. It is the objective of this article to summarize the current understanding of the use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system for the treatment of cancer, with a particular emphasis on HCC as part of the current state… More >

KUO-SHYANG JENG¹, PO-YU CHENG², YUEH-HSIEN LIN², PO-CHUN LIU², PING-HUI TSENG³, YU-CHAO WANG⁴, CHIUNG-FANG CHANG⁵, CHUEN-MIIN LEU^2,*

Oncology Research, Vol.32, No.1, pp. 163-174, 2024, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.030975

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Current therapies are effective for HCC patients with early disease, but many patients suffer recurrence after surgery and have a poor response to chemotherapy. Therefore, new therapeutic targets are needed. We analyzed gene expression profiles between HCC tissues and normal adjacent tissues from public databases and found that the expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism was significantly different. The analysis showed that AKR1C3 was upregulated in tumors, and high AKR1C3 expression was associated with a poorer prognosis in HCC patients. In vitro, assays demonstrated that the knockdown of AKR1C3… More >

XUEGANG YANG^1,#, XIANHONG XIANG^2,3,#, GUOHUI XU¹, SHI ZHOU³, TIANZHI AN^3,4,*, ZHI HUANG^3,4,*

Oncology Research, Vol.32, No.1, pp. 213-226, 2024, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.030768

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a common malignancy worldwide, still lacks effective clinical treatment. The study aimed to investigate the oncogenes that affect the progression of HCC and their possible mechanisms. In our study, we initially confirmed a higher level of PRDX2 in the bile of HCC patients compared to those with choledocholithiasis by 2-DE, LC-MS, and ELISA. Subsequently, we demonstrated the high expression of peroxiredoxin 2 (PRDX2) in HCC based on the TCGA database and clinical sample analysis. Furthermore, PRDX2 overexpression enhanced the viability of HCC cells. And PRDX2 silencing induced senescence of HCC cells. In vivo, knockdown of PRDX2 significantly… More >

ARCHITTAPON NOKKEAW^1,2,3,#, PANNATHON THAMJAMRASSRI^1,2,3,#, NAPHAT CHANTARAVISOOT^1,4, PISIT TANGKIJVANICH^1,2,*, CHAIYABOOT ARIYACHET^1,2,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.6, pp. 989-1005, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.030395

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide; nevertheless, current therapeutic options are limited or ineffective for many patients. Therefore, elucidation of molecular mechanisms in HCC biology could yield important insights for the intervention of novel therapies. Recently, various studies have reported dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the initiation and progression of HCC, including H19; however, the biological function of H19 in HCC remains unclear. Here, we show that knockdown of H19 disrupted HCC cell growth, impaired the G1-to-S phase transition, and promoted apoptosis, while overexpression of H19 yielded the opposite results. Screening for expression… More > Graphic Abstract

TIANYING CAI^1,2, JUNJIE BAI¹, PENG TAN³, ZHIWEI HUANG¹, CHEN LIU¹, ZIMING WU¹, YONGLANG CHENG¹, TONGXI LI¹, YIFAN CHEN¹, JIAN RUAN⁴, LIN GAO⁵, YICHAO DU^3,*, WENGUANG FU^1,3,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.5, pp. 805-817, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.029549

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy that is driven by multiple genes and pathways. The aim of this study was to investigate the role and specific mechanism of the actin-interacting protein zyxin (ZYX) in HCC. We found that the expression of ZYX was significantly higher in HCC tissues compared to that in normal liver tissues. In addition, overexpression of ZYX in hepatoma cell lines (PLC/PRF/5, HCCLM3) enhanced their proliferation, migration and invasion, whereas ZYX knockdown had the opposite effects (SK HEP-1, Huh-7). Furthermore, the change in the expression levels of ZYX also altered that of proteins related to cell… More >