Advances in molecular classification and precision oncology in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) arises from hepatocytes through the sequential accumulation of multiple genomic and epigenomic alterations resulting from Darwinian selection. Genes from various signalling pathways such as telomere maintenance, Wnt/β-catenin, P53/cell cycle regulation, oxidative stress, epigenetic modifiers, AKT/mTOR and MAP kinase are frequently mutated in HCC. Several subclasses of HCC have been identified based on transcriptomic dysregulation and genetic alterations that are closely related to risk factors, pathological features and prognosis. Undoubtedly, integration of data obtained from both preclinical models and human studies can help to accelerate the identification of robust predictive biomarkers of response to targeted biotherapy and immunotherapy. The aim of this review is to describe the main advances in HCC in terms of molecular biology and to discuss how this knowledge could be used in clinical practice in the future.

Keywords: Hepatitis B; Hepatocellular adenoma; Liver cancer; Malignant transformation; Mutation; Targeted therapy.