Search results for "liver neoplasm"

The addition of interleukin-2 to cyclophosphamide therapy can facilitate tumor growth of B16 melanoma.

1995

The role of interleukin-2 (IL-2) on tumor growth of B16F10 melanoma cells was assessed in two sets of mice with different immune status: normal (immunocompetent) mice and immunodeficient mice. The two sets of animals were treated with cyclophosphamide (CY) or IL-2 alone or with a combined therapy of CY+IL-2. On days 6 and 10 after tumor cell injection, we evaluated the incidence of hepatic B16 melanoma metastases and the percentage of hepatic volume occupied by metastatic tissue. We observed that the CY alone (300 mg/kg, days 3 and 8 post-tumoral inoculation) significantly reduced tumor growth in all treated mice; however, CY proved more effective in normal recipients than in immunodeficien…

CellMinerHCC: a microarray-based expression database for hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines.

2012

Background & Aims Therapeutic options for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) still remain limited. Development of gene targeted therapies is a promising option. A better understanding of the underlying molecular biology is gained in in vitro experiments. However, even with targeted manipulation of gene expression varying treatment responses were observed in diverse HCC cell lines. Therefore, information on gene expression profiles of various HCC cell lines may be crucial to experimental designs. To generate a publicly available database containing microarray expression profiles of diverse HCC cell lines. Methods Microarray data were analyzed using an individually scripted R program package. Dat…

The Friedreich's Ataxia protein frataxin modulates DNA base excision repair in prokaryotes and mammals

2010

DNA-repair mechanisms enable cells to maintain their genetic information by protecting it from mutations that may cause malignant growth. Recent evidence suggests that specific DNA-repair enzymes contain ISCs (iron–sulfur clusters). The nuclearencoded protein frataxin is essential for the mitochondrial biosynthesis of ISCs. Frataxin deficiency causes a neurodegenerative disorder named Friedreich's ataxia in humans. Various types of cancer occurring at young age are associated with this disease, and hence with frataxin deficiency. Mice carrying a hepatocyte-specific disruption of the frataxin gene develop multiple liver tumours for unresolved reasons. In the present study, we show that frata…

ERAS Protocol for Perioperative Care of Patients Treated with Laparoscopic Nonanatomic Liver Resection for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: The ISMETT Exper…

2020

Background: Liver resection (LR) remains the best therapeutic option for patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with preserved hepatic function and who are not eligible for liver transplantation. After its inception, the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol was widely used for treating patients with liver cancer, although there are still no clear indications for improving upon it in both open and laparoscopic surgery. Objective: This study aims to describe our institute's experience in the application of the ERAS protocol in a cohort of HCC patients, and to explore possible factors that could have an impact on postoperative outcomes. Materials and Methods: We re…

Severe metabolic alterations in liver cancer lead to ERK pathway activation and drug resistance

2020

Background: The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway regulates cell growth, and is hyper-activated and associated with drug resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Metabolic pathways are profoundly dysregulated in HCC. Whether an altered metabolic state is linked to activated ERK pathway and drug response in HCC is unaddressed. Methods: We deprived HCC cells of glutamine to induce metabolic alterations and performed various assays, including metabolomics (with 13C-glucose isotope tracing), microarray analysis, and cell proliferation assays. Glutamine-deprived cells were also treated with kinase inhibitors (e.g. Sorafenib, Erlotinib, U0126 amongst other MEK inhibitors). …

Transcriptional regulation of miR-224 upregulated in human HCCs by NFκB inflammatory pathways

2012

Background & Aims: miR-224 is up-regulated in human HCCs as compared to both paired peri-tumoral cirrhotic tissues and cirrhotic livers without HCC. Here, we have cloned the miR-224 regulatory region and characterized its transcriptional regulation by the NFκB-dependent inflammatory pathways. Methods: Mature miRNA expression was evaluated by a 2 step stem-loop real-time RT-PCR. The recruitment of polymerase II and transcription factors on the pre-miR-224 promoter has been assessed by ChIPSeq and ChIP. Results: We found miR-224 levels strongly up-regulated in both peri-tumoral cirrhotic livers and HCC samples as compared to normal livers. In silico analysis of the putative miR-224 promoter r…

Association Between PNPLA3 rs738409 C>G Variant and Liver-Related Outcomes in Patients with Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

2020

Background & Aims Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have an increased risk for liver-related complications, such as decompensation, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and death; the severity of liver fibrosis and metabolic comorbidities are the main risk factors. A single nucleotide polymorphism in patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing-3 (PNPLA3) gene is associated with higher prevalence of liver damage and HCC, but there are no data from prospective studies of outcomes of patients with this polymorphism. We investigated whether the common rs738409 variant in PNPLA3 gene associates with the occurrence of liver-related events and death in a large cohort of patients w…

Increased incidence or recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis C virus cirrhotic patients treated with direct-acting antivirals: myth or …

2018

Gender differences in chronic HBsAg carriers in Italy: Evidence for the independent role of male sex in severity of liver disease

2015

It has been shown that sexual hormones have an opposite effect on hepatic fibrosis progression and hepatocellular carcinoma development. Sex differences among 2,762 chronic HBsAg carriers consecutively referring Italian hospitals in 2001 and in 2007 have been evaluated, particularly focusing on the role of gender on severity of liver disease. The overall sex ratio (males/females) was 2.6. Females were more likely born abroad and new diagnosis cases; but less likely HIV coinfected. No sex difference was observed regarding coinfection with other hepatitis viruses. The sex ratio linearly increased with increasing severity of liver disease, being 1.3 in normal ALT, 2.8 in chronic hepatitis, 3.6…

Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Difficult Cancer to Treat

2021

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a very peculiar cancer because it presents several molecular alterations linked to the activation of survival and antiapoptotic signal pathways that are protein in form and not easily targetable by even the newest targeted therapies. In addition, it is almost always a consequence of liver cirrhosis, a serious disease condition in which several drugs are often not tolerated. This is why the study of HCC was such a challenge for Professor Natale D'Alessandro, to whom this work is dedicated, during the latter years of his career. The aim of this review is to summarize studies on different molecules involved in the development, progression, and chemoresistance …