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Updated: Jun 17, 2026
An Oncogenic Hepatocyte-Induced Orthotopic Mouse Model of Hepatocellular Cancer Arising in the Setting of Hepatic Inflammation and Fibrosis
Published on: September 12, 2019
Targeted therapy of hepatocellular cancer
1University of Medical Sciences, Department of Chemotherapy, Greater Poland Cancer Center, ul. Garbary 15, Poznan 61-866, Poland. pwysocki@plusnet.pl
Importance Of The Field:
Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is the fifth most common malignancy worldwide and third leading cause of cancer death. HCC is highly resistant to conventional systemic therapies, and prognosis for advanced HCC patients remains poor. However, identification of signaling pathways responsible for HCC growth and progression such as RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK or PI3K/AKT/mTOR has determined crucial molecular targets and led to development of novel promising targeted therapies.
Areas Covered In This Review:
This article presents molecular mechanisms responsible for development and progression of HCC and strategies aimed to block important molecules involved in signal transduction. It also reviews the clinical studies evaluating efficacy and safety of novel targeted approaches for treatment of this malignancy.
What The Reader Will Gain:
Inhibition of molecular targets (ligands, membrane receptors and receptor-associated kinases) represents a promising strategy for treatment of HCC; in the case of sorafenib, this has already been demonstrated to significantly improve survival of advanced HCC patients. This article reviews novel therapeutic approaches that are based on combinations of different targeted agents with or without classic cytotoxic drugs.
Take Home Message:
Despite significant progress, advanced HCC remains an incurable disease, and the overall efficacy of recently approved targeted therapy (sorafenib) remains moderate. It is to be hoped that several ongoing clinical trials evaluating novel targeted approaches for treatment of HCC will lead to further improvement in the management of advanced disease.
Insights
Targeted therapies show promise for advanced hepatocellular cancer (HCC), a common and deadly malignancy. While sorafenib improves survival, ongoing trials explore new combinations for better HCC treatment outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Cancer Therapeutics
Background:
- Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer death globally.
- Advanced HCC exhibits resistance to conventional treatments, leading to poor patient prognosis.
- Key signaling pathways (e.g., RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK, PI3K/AKT/mTOR) offer molecular targets for novel therapies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present molecular mechanisms driving HCC development and progression.
- To review strategies targeting key molecules in HCC signal transduction.
- To evaluate clinical studies on novel targeted therapies for HCC.
Main Methods:
- Review of molecular mechanisms in HCC pathogenesis.
- Analysis of targeted signaling pathways and molecular targets.
- Evaluation of clinical trial data for targeted HCC treatments.
Main Results:
- Targeted inhibition of molecular pathways is a promising HCC treatment strategy.
- Sorafenib has demonstrated improved survival in advanced HCC patients.
- Novel approaches involve combinations of targeted agents, with or without chemotherapy.
Conclusions:
- Advanced HCC remains largely incurable despite targeted therapy advancements.
- Current targeted therapies like sorafenib offer moderate efficacy.
- Further clinical trials are crucial for improving advanced HCC management.
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