XINRUI SHI¹, XIA GAO¹, WENCONG LIU², XUEJIAO TANG¹, JIAYI LIU¹, DONGCHEN PAN¹, XUEQING DUAN¹, YUQING JIN¹, WEIYAN REN¹, LEI YANG^1,*, WENXUAN LIU^1,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.4, pp. 569-590, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.028964

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common fatal cancer worldwide, patients with HCC have a high mortality rate and poor prognosis. PANoptosis is a novel discovery of programmed cell death associated with cancer development. However, the role of PANoptosis in HCC remains obscure. In this study, we enrolled 274 PANoptosisrelated genes (PANRGs) and screened 8 genes to set up a prognostic model. A previous scoring system calculated PANscore was utilized to quantify the individual risk level of each HCC patient, and the reliability of the prognostic model has been validated in an external cohort. Nomogram constructed with PANscore and clinical… More >

YUE CAO, LIN HU, YISHU TANG^*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.7, pp. 1537-1548, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.027205

Abstract Backgrounds: Both hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) and microRNA-221 (miR-221) have been implicated in the development of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The present study demonstrates that HBx promotes HCC cell proliferation via the C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12-C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCL12-CXCR4) axis. We predict that HBx/miR-221-mediated CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling induces NKT cells to promote HBV-related HCC. Methods: After miR-221 mimic, miR-221 mimic negative control, miR-221 inhibitor, miR-221 inhibitor negative control were transfected into cells, the expression of CXCL12 and miR-221 was detected by qPCR and western blot. Then we constructed a stable HBV-HCC cell line.… More >

BOWEN PENG¹, YUN GE¹, GANG YIN^2,3,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.7, pp. 1519-1535, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.027026

Abstract Background: Tanshinone IIA, one of the main ingredients of Danshen, is used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, potential targets of the molecule in the therapy of HCC are unknown. Methods: In this study, we collected the tanshinone IIA targets from public databases for investigation. We screened differentially expressed genes (DEGs) across HCC and normal tissues using mRNA expression profiles from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Univariate Cox regression analysis and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression models were used to identify and construct the prognostic gene signature. Results: Finally, we discovered common genes across tanshinone IIA… More >

LI YANG^1,2, KUN DENG³, ZHIQIANG MOU^1,2, PINGFU XIONG^1,2, JIAN WEN^1,2, JING LI^1,2,*

Oncology Research, Vol.30, No.5, pp. 243-258, 2022, DOI: 10.32604/or.2022.027958

Abstract Background: Considering the great heterogeneity of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), more accurate prognostic models are urgently needed. This paper combined the advantages of genomics and pathomics to construct a prognostic model. Methods: First, we collected data from hepatocellular carcinoma patients with complete mRNA expression profiles and clinical annotations from the TCGA database. Then, based on immune-related genes, we used random forest plots to screen prognosis-related genes and build prognostic models. Bioinformatics was used to identify biological pathways, evaluate the tumor microenvironment, and perform drug susceptibility testing. Finally, we divided the patients into different subgroups according to the gene model algorithm. Pathological… More >

YONGKANG SHI, JUN MA, KE CHEN, BIN CHEN^*

Oncology Research, Vol.30, No.4, pp. 201-210, 2022, DOI:10.32604/or.2022.027584

Abstract 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a commonly used chemotherapeutic agent for various cancers. However, the drug resistance developed by tumor cells hinders the therapeutic effect. Konjac glucomannan (KGM) is indicated to sensitize 5-FU-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells to 5-FU. In our study, we found that KGM or 5-FU treatment alone did not affect the malignant cell behaviors and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress of 5-FU-resistant HCC cells or HepG2/5-FU and Bel-7402/5-FU cells, while cotreatment with KGM and 5-FU significantly facilitated HCC cell apoptosis and ER stress and suppressed cell proliferation potential and migration abilities. Moreover, we explored the underlying mechanism by which KGM… More >

XIAOYIN LI^1,#, QIAN WANG^2,#, HONGFENG LIANG^3,#, SHISHENG CHEN^4,#, HAIWEN CHEN^1,#, YAOYONG LU^1,*, CHANGFU YANG^1,*

Oncology Research, Vol.30, No.2, pp. 77-87, 2022, DOI:10.32604/or.2022.026511

Abstract In this study, we investigated the functional role of eukaryotic initiation factor 5B (EIF5B) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the underlying mechanisms. Bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that the EIF5B transcript and protein levels as well as the EIF5Bcopy number were significantly higher in the HCC tissues compared with the non-cancerous liver tissues. Down-regulation of EIF5B significantly decreased proliferation and invasiveness of the HCC cells. Furthermore, EIF5B knockdown suppressed epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotype. Down-regulation of EIF5B also increased the sensitivity of HCC cells to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In the HCC cells, activation of the NF-kappa B signaling… More >

WENLI ZENG¹, FENG LING², KAINUO DANG³, QINGJIA CHI^3,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.3, pp. 581-592, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.025957

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is associated with poor prognosis and fluctuations in immune status. Although studies have found that secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1) is involved in HCC progression, its independent prognostic value and immune-mediated role remain unclear. Using The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus data, we found that low expression of SPP1 is significantly associated with improved survival of HCC patients and that SPP1 expression is correlated with clinical characteristics. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression confirmed that SPP1 is an independent prognostic factor of HCC. Subsequently, we found that T cell CD4 memory-activated monocytes, M0 macrophages, and resting mast… More >

Linpei Wang^1,#, Xiaoqiu Ma^2,#, Youqi Chen¹, Jiahui Zhang¹, Jiawei Zhang¹, Wei Wang^1,*, Shaojian Chen^3,*

Oncologie, Vol.24, No.4, pp. 897-912, 2022, DOI:10.32604/oncologie.2022.025693

Abstract Background: MicroRNA-145-5p (miR-145-5p) reportedly inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by targeting ARF6, SPATS2, CDCA3, KLF5, and NRAS, indicating that miR-145-5p plays an important role in the occurrence and development of HCC by regulating the expression of various genes. In this study, we aimed to explore novel downstream targets of miR-145-5p and elucidate the potential mechanism of miR-145-5p in HCC. Materials and Methods: A bioinformatics analysis was performed to determine the clinical significance of miR-145-5p and alpha/beta hydrolase domain-containing protein 17C (ABHD17C) in patients with HCC. The ability of Hep3B cells to proliferate, migrate, and invade was examined after overexpression of miR-145-5p… More >

BIAO YANG^1,3,#,*, MINLAN YUAN^2,#, TING YANG^1,#, ZHENGYIN LIAO¹, HAO WU^3,*

Oncology Research, Vol.30, No.1, pp. 23-33, 2022, DOI:10.32604/or.2022.026044

Abstract Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the caudate lobe is technically challenging. This retrospective study was designed to evaluate the clinical outcome of both superselective transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and liver resection (LR) for HCC occurring exclusively in the caudate lobe. From January 2008 to September 2021, a total of 129 patients were diagnosed with HCC of the caudate lobe. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to analyze the potential clinical factors and established prognostic nomograms with interval validation. Of the total number of patients, 78 received TACE and 51 received LR. The overall survival (OS) rates (TACE vs.… More >

TIANXING LIU¹, HONGYAN DIAO^2,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.1, pp. 27-32, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.023568

Abstract Non-coding RNAs are speculated to exert important regulatory functions at the level of gene expression, oncogenesis, and many other pathologies. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a leading cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and some studies have shown that the expression of non-coding RNAs has an assignable effect on the development of HBV-induced HCC. In this context, the functions and molecular mechanisms of the HBVinduced non-coding RNA expression in the development of hepatoma have attracted increasing attention. This review covers the progress in the exploration of the relationship between HBV-induced hepatoma and non-coding RNA expression, cataloging the recent reports about… More >