Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry (Formerly Current Medicinal Chemistry - Anti-Cancer Agents) - Volume 11, Issue 6, 2011

This special issue focuses on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the predominant form of adult liver cancer, and also the third most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Despite well defined major etiologies and risk factors, and recent scientific advances in understanding hepatocarcinogenesis, survival of patients has not improved greatly over the past three decades. This is in part due to presentation and Read More

Liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in particular, is one of the most deadly cancers worldwide, and the incidence of HCC is increasing rapidly in the United States and other developed countries. Epidemiological studies have identified major risk factors for HCC, including infection with hepatitis B and C virus (HBV and HCV), exposure to certain chemicals, high intake of alcohol, as well as metabolic diseases such as Read More

The role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in human tumorigenesis has been demonstrated by gene profiling and functional studies. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), consistently deregulated miRNAs were identified. Their aberrant expression revealed relations shared with other types of cancer and others unique to HCC, namely the down-regulation of miR-122. Most importantly, functional and molecular studies uncovered mech Read More

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer-related mortality in the world because current treatments, including both surgical and non-surgical ones, cannot effectively cure this disease. Increasing evidence has revealed the importance of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in hepatocarcinogenesis, and the idea of targeting CSCs sheds light on more effective therapeutic strategies for HCC. In this revie Read More

Nuclear receptors (NRs) are ligand-activated transcription factors that are important to life by regulating a wide variety of physiological and pathological functions. There are three classes of NRs defined by ligands and heterodimer partners. The Class II NRs are involved in a broad range of pathophysiological functions in the liver, including cholesterol and bile acid homeostasis; lipid and glucose metabolism; inflammation; l Read More

Glypican-3 (GPC3) is a developmentally-regulated oncofetal protein that has been established as a clinically-relevant biomarker for early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is one of the first transcripts to appear during malignant hepatocyte transformation, and is expressed at the protein level in approximately half of high-grade dysplastic macronodules in cirrhotic liver. Several studies show it is expressed in most ( Read More

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. However, there is little known about targeted therapeutics for the treatment of this devastating tumor. Among the growth factor signaling cascades deregulated in HCC, evidences suggest that the WNT/Frizzled-mediated signaling pathway plays a key role in the hepatic carcinogenesis. Aberrant activation of the signaling in HCC is m Read More

Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is the fifth most common malignancy worldwide with 660,000 deaths annually. Studies of the molecular pathophysiology of HCC have shown that growth factors and their corresponding receptors are commonly overexpressed and/or dysregulated in HCC. Activation of these receptors and their downstream signaling pathways can lead to angiogenesis, cell proliferation, survival and me Read More

Hepatocarcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common neoplasia in the world, and the first cause of death by cancer in some areas. The clinical course of HCC patients has improved greatly owing to the use of the oral multikinase inhibitor, Sorafenib. The expression of receptors belonging to the superfamily of tumor necrosis factor receptors (TNF-R), such as TNF-R1, CD95 and TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) recept Read More

Gallium is antiproliferative to many types of cancer, due primarily to its ability to act as a non-functional mimic of ferric iron (Fe3+). Because Fe3+ is needed for ribonucleotide reductase activity—and thus DNA synthesis—gallium can inhibit DNA production and cell division. Diagnostic gallium scans have shown that hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is commonly avid for gallium. Furthermore, in vitro studies have found that galliu Read More