scholarly journals Positive Immuno-Modulation Following Radiofrequency Assisted Liver Resection in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Wen Huang ◽  
Kumar Jayant ◽  
Po-Huang Lee ◽  
Po-chih Yang ◽  
Chih-Yang Hsiao ◽  
...  

Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) often develops on a background of chronic inflammation and a complex immunosuppressive network with increased regulatory T cells, impaired CD8+ T cells and the secretion of immunosuppressive cytokines. Previous clinical studies have reported a superior disease-free survival (DFS) following a radiofrequency-based ablation or resection in HCC tumours compared to conventional liver resection techniques. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is any correlation with the use of a radiofrequency-assisted liver resection and clinical outcome. Material and Methods: Patients’ peripheral blood was collected prior and 7 days following surgery from patients undergoing a liver resection for HCC. There were 5 liver resections performed using CUSA and 6 liver resections with the RF-based device, HabibTM 4X. The primary endpoint of the study was to assess the immunological parameters of circulating immune cell populations as well as serum cytokines. The Student’s t-test, chi-square or Fisher’s Exact test were applied for statistical comparisons, as appropriate. Results: Patients undergoing an RF-assisted liver resection with HabibTM 4X had a significant decrease in the inhibitory Treg cells (p = 0.002) and a significant increase in CD8+ T lymphocytes (p = 0.050) and CD4+CD45RO+/CD4+ memory T cells (p = 0.002) compared to those patients undergoing a liver resection with CUSA. It was also noted that the RF-assisted liver resection group had a significant decrease in circulating TGF-ß (p = 0.000), IL10 (p = 0.000) and a significant increase in IFN-gamma (p = 0. 027) and IL-17 compared to the CUSA group. Conclusion: A liver resection with RF-based device HabibTM 4X was associated with positive immunomodulatory changes in circulating immune cells and circulating cytokines which could explain the significant improvement in DFS.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Zhihuai Wang ◽  
Shuai Chen ◽  
Gaochao Wang ◽  
Sun Li ◽  
Xihu Qin

Cell division cycle-associated protein-3 (CDCA3) contributes to the regulation of the cell cycle. CDCA3 plays an important role in the carcinogenesis of various cancers; however, the association between CDCA3 expression, prognosis of patients, and immune infiltration in the tumor microenvironment is still unknown. Here, we demonstrated that CDCA3 was differentially expressed between the tumor tissues and corresponding normal tissues using in silico analysis in the ONCOMINE and Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) databases. We analyzed the relationship between the expression of CDCA3 and prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using the Kaplan–Meier plotter database and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA). Furthermore, we determined the prognostic value of CDCA3 expression using univariate and multivariate analyses. We observed that CDCA3 expression closely correlated with immune infiltration and gene markers of infiltrating immune cells in the TIMER database. CDCA3 was highly expressed in the tumor tissues than in the adjacent normal tissues in various cancers, including HCC. Increased expression of CDCA3 was accompanied by poorer overall survival (OS), relapse-free survival (RFS), progression-free survival (PFS), and disease-specific survival (DSS). The correlation between CDCA3 expression and OS and disease-free survival (DFS) was also studied using GEPIA. CDCA3 expression was associated with the levels of immune cell infiltration and was positively correlated with tumor purity. Moreover, CDCA3 expression was associated with gene markers such as PD-1, CTLA4, LAG3, and TIM-3 from exhausted T cells, CD3D, CD3E, and CD2 from T cells, and TGFB1 and CCR8 located on the surface of Tregs. Thus, we demonstrated that CDCA3 may be a potential target and biomarker for the management and diagnosis of HCC.


PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e12123
Author(s):  
Bi Peng ◽  
Yuanliang Yan ◽  
Zhijie Xu

Background Serving as N6-methyladenosine demethylases, the AlkB family is involved in the tumorigenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the molecular profiles and clinical values of the AlkB family in HCC are not well known. Methods Several bioinformatics tools and in vitro experiments were used to identify the immune-related profiles and prognostic values of AlkB family in HCC. Results In this study expression levels of ALKBH1/2/3/4/7 were all remarkably increased in HCC tissues when compared with normal tissues. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) and immunohistochemistry were used to validate the expression of AlkB family members in HCC tissues and normal liver tissues. In addition, high expression levels of ALKBH4 were negatively correlated with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with HCC. Increased ALKBH4 was also associated with pathological stage in HCC patients. The molecular profiles of AlkB family in HCC were mainly associated with peptidyl-serine modification, peptidyl-tyrosine modification, regulation of metal ion transport, etc. Furthermore, tumor-infiltrating immune cell analysis indicated that ALKBH1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 and FTO were related to the infiltration of different immune cell, such as CD8+ T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells and CD4+ T cells. We also discovered that the methylation levels of ALKBH1/2/4/5/6/8 and FTO were remarkably reduced in HCC tissues. Conclusions Collectively, our findings may deepen the understanding of specific molecular profiles of the AlkB family in HCC pathology. In particular, ALKBH4 could serve as a promising prognostic candidate for treating HCC, and these results might potentiate the development of more reliable therapeutic strategies for patients with HCC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Rongqiang Liu ◽  
Weihao Kong ◽  
ZeKun Jiang ◽  
Shiyang Zheng ◽  
Xiaofeng Yuan ◽  
...  

Background. The role of ABL1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still unclear. Therefore, this study aims to explore the potential role of ABL1 in the progression of HCC using bioinformatics methods. Methods. We analyzed the expression, prognostic potential, and immune cell effect of ABL1 in HCC by using a variety of datasets. Results. ABL1 is highly expressed in HCC and associated with unfavorable overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Functional network analysis revealed that ABL1 plays an important role in mitochondrial activity, ATP metabolism, protein translation and metabolism, various neurological diseases, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and notch signaling pathway. In addition, we found that ABL1 expression was closely correlated with B cells, CD8 + T cells, CD4 + T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells. Furthermore, ABL1 expression was positively associated with the expression levels of immune checkpoint genes, such as PD-1L, TIM3, TIGIT, and CTLA4. Conclusion. ABL1 is associated with immune infiltration and prognosis of HCC.


2019 ◽  
Vol 98 (10) ◽  

Introduction: Radical liver resection is the only method for the treatment of patients with colorectal liver metastases (CLM); however, only 20–30% of patients with CLMs can be radically treated. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is one of the possible methods of palliative treatment in such patients. Methods: RFA was performed in 381 patients with CLMs between 01 Jan 2001 and 31 Dec 2018. The mean age of the patients was 65.2±8.7 years. The male to female ratio was 2:1. Open laparotomy was done in 238 (62.5%) patients and the CT-navigated transcutaneous approach was used in 143 (37.5%) patients. CLMs <5 cm (usually <3 cm) in diameter were the indication for RFA. We used RFA as the only method in 334 (87.6%) patients; RFA in combination with resection was used in 36 (9.4%), and with multi-stage resection in 11 (3%) patients. We performed RFA in a solitary CLM in 170 (44.6%) patients, and in 2−5 CLMs in 211 (55.6%) patients. We performed computed tomography in each patient 48 hours after procedure. Results: The 30-day postoperative mortality was zero. Complications were present in 4.8% of transcutaneous and in 14.2% of open procedures, respectively, in the 30-day postoperative period. One-, 3-, 5- and 10-year overall survival rates were 94.8, 66.8, 43.9 and 16.6%, respectively, in patients undergoing RFA, and 90.6, 69.1, 52.8 and 39.2%, respectively, in patients with liver resections. Disease free survival was 63.2, 30.1, 18.4 and 13.1%, respectively, in the same patients after RFA, and 71.1, 33.3, 22.8 and 15.5%, respectively, after liver resections. Conclusion: RFA is a palliative thermal ablation method, which is one of therapeutic options in patients with radically non-resectable CLMs. RFA is useful especially in a non-resectable, or resectable (but for the price of large liver resection) solitary CLM <3 cm in diameter and in CLM relapses. RFA is also part of multi-stage liver procedures.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 3730
Author(s):  
Berend R. Beumer ◽  
Roeland F. de Wilde ◽  
Herold J. Metselaar ◽  
Robert A. de Man ◽  
Wojciech G. Polak ◽  
...  

For patients presenting with hepatocellular carcinoma within the Milan criteria, either liver resection or liver transplantation can be performed. However, to what extent either of these treatment options is superior in terms of long-term survival is unknown. Obviously, the comparison of these treatments is complicated by several selection processes. In this article, we comprehensively review the current literature with a focus on factors accounting for selection bias. Thus far, studies that did not perform an intention-to-treat analysis conclude that liver transplantation is superior to liver resection for early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma. In contrast, studies performing an intention-to-treat analysis state that survival is comparable between both modalities. Furthermore, all studies demonstrate that disease-free survival is longer after liver transplantation compared to liver resection. With respect to the latter, implications of recurrences for survival are rarely discussed. Heterogeneous treatment effects and logical inconsistencies indicate that studies with a higher level of evidence are needed to determine if liver transplantation offers a survival benefit over liver resection. However, randomised controlled trials, as the golden standard, are believed to be infeasible. Therefore, we suggest an alternative research design from the causal inference literature. The rationale for a regression discontinuity design that exploits the natural experiment created by the widely adopted Milan criteria will be discussed. In this type of study, the analysis is focused on liver transplantation patients just within the Milan criteria and liver resection patients just outside, hereby ensuring equal distribution of confounders.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
De-Chen Yu ◽  
Xiang-Yi Chen ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
Hai-Yu Zhou ◽  
De-Quan Yu ◽  
...  

AbstractThe spindle and kinetochore-associated protein complex (Ska) is an essential component in chromosome segregation. It comprises three proteins (Ska1, Ska2, and Ska3) with theorized roles in chromosomal instability and tumor development, and its overexpression has been widely reported in a variety of tumors. However, the prognostic significance and immune infiltration of Ska proteins in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are not completely understood. The bioinformatics tools Oncomine, UALCAN, gene expression profiling interactive analysis 2 (GEPIA2), cBioPortal, GeneMANIA, Metascape, and TIMER were used to analyze differential expression, prognostic value, genetic alteration, and immune cell infiltration of the Ska protein complex in HCC patients. We found that the mRNA expression of the Ska complex was markedly upregulated in HCC. High expression of the Ska complex is closely correlated with tumor stage, patient race, tumor grade, and TP53 mutation status. In addition, high expression of the Ska complex was significantly correlated with poor disease-free survival, while the high expression levels of Ska1 and Ska3 were associated with shorter overall survival. The biological functions of the Ska complex in HCC primarily involve the amplification of signals from kinetochores, the mitotic spindle, and (via a MAD2 invasive signal) unattached kinetochores. Furthermore, the expression of the complex was positively correlated with tumor-infiltrating cells. These results may provide new insights into the development of immunotherapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers for HCC.


Open Medicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-223
Author(s):  
Xin Song ◽  
Shidong Zhang ◽  
Run Tian ◽  
Chuanjun Zheng ◽  
Yuge Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background CKLF Like Marvel Transmembrane Domain Containing 1 (CMTM1) plays a role in breast cancer and lung cancer, but studies on the occurrence and development of CMTM1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been reported. Methods The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to detect CMTM1 expression in HCC tissues. The relationship between CMTM1 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics of HCC patients was analyzed by chi-square test, and the relationship between CMTM1 expression and the prognosis of HCC patients was tested by the Kaplan–Meier model. Results Bioinformatics analysis showed that the mRNA expression of CMTM1 was upregulated in HCC tissues, and low expression of CMTM1 is associated with longer disease-free survival in patients with HCC. Similarly, the survival time of HCC patients in CMTM1 high expression group was significantly shorter than that in CMTM1 low expression group. IHC detection indicated that CMTM1 protein was highly expressed in both HCC and adjacent non-tumor tissues, with a positive expression in 84% (63/75) of HCC tissues and 89.3% (67/75) of adjacent non-tumor tissues. Moreover, CMTM1 expression was related to family history and TNM stage of HCC patients (P < 0.05), but had no relationship with other clinicopathological characteristics. The survival analysis based on IHC results showed that the prognosis of HCC patients in CMTM1 negative group was significantly poorer than that in CMTM1 positive group (P < 0.05). Conclusion CMTM1 has a high expression in HCC tissues and is related to the prognosis of HCC patients.


Author(s):  
Laima Alam

Objectives:Relation of demographics of hepatocellular-carcinoma with the aetiology.Tumour characteristics in relation to anti-viral therapy and presence of viral-DNA/RNATreatment modalities offeredMethods: This cross-sectional study enrolled all the patients aged 18-70 years with diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma either through Triphasic Contrast-Enhanced-CT scan and/or Magnetic Resonance Imaging or biopsy presenting to the Outpatient-Department or multi-disciplinary-team meetings for the year 2019. Demographic variables, biochemical analysis including liver profile and stage of cirrhosis, viral-status, tumour staging and the treatment modalities offered were all noted. ANOVA (normal) and Kruskal-Wallis (non-normal) tests were used to compare quantitative data whereas chi-square-test and fisher-exact-test were used to compare qualitative-data.Results: Out of 195 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, 76% were males in their fifth to sixth decades of life, 96% had cirrhosis, 94% corresponded to viral hepatocellular-carcinoma (82% Hepatitis-C-Virus, 9% Hepatitis-B-Virus and 3% coinfection), 60% of the cirrhotics landed in Child-Pugh A category with tumour staging BCLC-B being the predominant one (43.6%) and single and multiple bilateral nodules were the commonest lesions encountered. Platelets and Alanine-Transaminase had a significant relation across aetiological groups. Lymph-nodes were the most common extra-hepatic organs for metastasis and the presence of viral PCR had a significant impact on the tumour aggressiveness. Thirty-two percent of the patients were amenable to curative treatment.Conclusion: Viral infection is the main cause of rising prevalence of this tumour in Pakistan. Treatment modalities are expensive and expertise are lacking. A nationwide cancer registry is required for the exact disease burden and tumour behaviour for our population. Continuous....


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinxin Chen ◽  
Wenxia Qiu ◽  
Xuekun Xie ◽  
Zefeng Chen ◽  
Zhiwei Han ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: This work was designed to establish and verify our nomograms integrating clinicopathological characteristics with hematological biomarkers to predict both disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients following hepatectomy.Methods: We scrutinized the data retrospectively from 414 patients with a clinicopathological diagnosis of solitary HCC from Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital (Nanning, China) between January 2004 and December 2012. Following the random separation of the samples in a 7:3 ratio into the training set and validation set, the former set was assessed by Cox regression analysis to develop two nomograms to predict the 1-year and 3-year DFS and OS (3-years and 5-years). This was followed by discrimination and calibration estimation employing Harrell’s C-index (C-index) and calibration curves, while the internal validation was also assessed.Results: In the training cohort, the tumor diameter, tumor capsule, macrovascular invasion, and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were included in the DFS nomogram. Age, tumor diameter, tumor capsule, macrovascular invasion, microvascular invasion, and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were included in the OS nomogram. The C-index was 0.691 (95% CI: 0.644-0.738) for the DFS-nomogram and 0.713 (95% CI: 0.670-0.756) for the OS-nomogram. The survival probability calibration curves displayed a fine agreement between the predicted and observed ranges in both data sets. Conclusion: Our nomograms combined clinicopathological features with hematological biomarkers to emerge effective in predicting the DFS and OS in solitary HCC patients following curative liver resection. Therefore, the potential utility of our nomograms for guiding individualized treatment clinically and monitor the recurrence monitoring in these patients.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunji Xu ◽  
Guo Huang ◽  
Wen bing Li

Abstract Background: The prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is closely related to immunity and inflammation, but the value of using immune and inflammation-related genes as predicting the prognosis of HCC requires further research.Methods: The Hepatocellular Carcinomar mRNA data was downloaded in the TCGA and ICGC database. The R package "limma" was used to analyze the differential expression of genes (DEGs) irelated to immune and inflammatory .Univariate Cox analysis screen for immune and inflammation related genes with prognostic value, then construction and verification of the prognostic model in Hepatocellular Carcinomar. The correlation between risk score with tumor immune immersion and immune cell function was assessed through tumor microensure and immune response analysis. NCI-60 cell line to explore the relationship between prognostic gene expression and drug sensitivity.Results: We evaluated 8 immune and inflammatory-related genes to build a prognostic risk prediction model, riskscore is an independent risk factor affecting prognosis, closely related to histological grading and clinical staging. The immune of adCs, macrophages, Tfh cells, Treg cells and Th1 cells higher in the tumor microenvironment leads to poor prognosis of liver cancer. Using data from the NCI-60 cell line, DNASE1L3 high expression may increased resistance of liver cancer cells to bovine platinum, solafinil and bovine platinum. The expression of SLC7A11 can increase the sensitivity of liver cancer to arsenic trioxide (ATO). Simultaneously constructing models and tumor microenvironment and drug resistance may provide effective and safe strategies for HCC chemotherapy and immunotherapy.Conclusion:Our study screened eight immune and inflammation-related genes play an important role in HCC tumor immunity and can be used to predict the prognosis of HCC.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document