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Review
. 2020 May 28;12(6):1576.
doi: 10.3390/nu12061576.

Oxidative Stress Management in Chronic Liver Diseases and Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Daisuke Uchida  1 , Akinobu Takaki  1 , Atsushi Oyama  1 , Takuya Adachi  1 , Nozomu Wada  1 , Hideki Onishi  1 , Hiroyuki Okada  1
Affiliations
Review

Oxidative Stress Management in Chronic Liver Diseases and Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Daisuke Uchida et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Chronic viral hepatitis B and C and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have been widely acknowledged to be the leading causes of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. As anti-viral treatment progresses, the impact of NAFLD is increasing. NAFLD can coexist with chronic viral hepatitis and exacerbate its progression. Oxidative stress has been recognized as a chronic liver disease progression-related and cancer-initiating stress response. However, there are still many unresolved issues concerning oxidative stress, such as the correlation between the natural history of the disease and promising treatment protocols. Recent findings indicate that oxidative stress is also an anti-cancer response that is necessary to kill cancer cells. Oxidative stress might therefore be a cancer-initiating response that should be down regulated in the pre-cancerous stage in patients with risk factors for cancer, while it is an anti-cancer cell response that should not be down regulated in the post-cancerous stage, especially in patients using anti-cancer agents. Antioxidant nutrients should be administered carefully according to the patients' disease status. In this review, we will highlight these paradoxical effects of oxidative stress in chronic liver diseases, pre- and post-carcinogenesis.

Keywords: chronic hepatitis; hepatocellular carcinoma; oxidative stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A conceptual diagram of probable post-sustained virologic response (SVR) hepatocarcinogenesis in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related cirrhosis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A conceptual diagram of oxidative stress in the pre- and post-carcinogenesis stage.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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