Molecular markers of hepatocellular carcinoma and their applications

Abstract

By means of a proteomic approach, the markers of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the liver of a knockout mouse (MAT1A- / -) have been identified for the MAT1A gene (deficient in the synthesis of S-adenosylmethionine). 27 proteins have been detected the expression thereof is altered in, at least, 50% of the analysed tumours. Amongst them, 13 proteins have been validated in biopsies of patients with HCC of different etiology, and 7 of them have been validated in biopsies of patients with liver cirrhosis, a stage prior to the development of HCC, which makes it possible to differentiate between prior stages of the disease and even between different etiologies (viral and alcoholic). Having a panel of markers available may contribute to more accurately defining the alterations associated with the development of HCC and thus facilitate prognosis and diagnosis of this disease.

Description

technical field The present invention generally relates to the analysis of gene and protein expression alterations in liver tumor tissue from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. In particular, the present invention relates to a set of human genes and proteins that are differentially expressed in cancerous liver tissue of individuals with HCC as compared to the expression of the same genes and proteins in healthy liver tissue. Therefore, the genes and proteins are used as molecular markers or biomarkers of HCC. Background of the invention Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), also known as malignant hepatoma, is the fifth most prevalent neoplastic disease and the third leading cause of cancer death, with more than 500,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Although the main causes of HCC are well known, including infection by hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV), consumption of aflatoxin-contaminated food, or excessive alcohol intake, due to the aggressive nature of...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Despite many studies in an attempt to understand the clinicopathological features of the disease and improve the treatment of HCC patients, conventional clinicopathological parameters have very limited predictive power

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