Targeting HSP90 with the small molecule inhibitor AUY922 (luminespib) as a treatment strategy against hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly malignant tumor that responds very poorly to existing therapies, most probably due to its extraordinary inter- and intra-tumor molecular heterogeneity. The modest therapeutic response to molecular targeted agents underlines the need for new therapeutic approaches for HCC. In our study, we took advantage of well-characterized human HCC cell lines, differing in transcriptomic subtypes, DNA mutation and amplification alterations, reflecting the heterogeneity of primary HCCs, to provide a preclinical evaluation of the specific heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitor AUY922 (luminespib). Indeed, HSP90 is highly expressed in different tumor types, but it…