Editing liver tumours

There is an urgent need for new therapeutic options for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is currently the third cause of cancer-related death worldwide.1 HCC develops most frequently in the setting of cirrhosis. This premalignant condition occurs as a consequence of chronic liver disease, mainly as a result of hepatitis B and C viral infection, alcohol abuse and obesity. The poor efficacy of many antiproliferative agents against HCC is due in part to the inefficient drug delivery and metabolism in cirrhotic livers, leading to unbearable drug toxicity. Novel therapies for HCC could be developed after the identification of oncogenic addiction loops or primary ‘gatekeeper’ and ‘driver’ mutations that would allow for HCC initiation and progression, respectively. To this end, previous large-scale studies in HCC have focused on searching for DNA mutations and transcriptome alterations. This allowed the classification of HCCs with DNA mutations that affect different pathways, that...
Source: Gut - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Tags: Commentary Source Type: research