Novel molecular targets for diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant cancers worldwide and the third leading cause of cancer death. There have been many changes and challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of HCC in the past few decades. Liver cancer progresses with no clinical symptoms in the early stage, whereas clinical symptoms become obvious in the advanced stage when the diagnosis is usually made, leading to a poor prognosis. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgical resection, and liver transplantation therapies have improved the treatment of advanced HCC; however, it is of critical importance to explore new diagnostic and therapeutic molecular targets of HCC. Numerous signaling pathways, such as Hippo-YAP, VEGFR/EGFR, Wnt/β-catenin, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, and MAPK/ERK, have been suggested being involved in the hepatic carcinogenesis. Although advances in molecular biology methodologies have contributed to the recognition of new tumor markers, which can be used in the diagnosis and treatment of HCC, additional liver cancer biomarkers are required for effective early diagnosis and monitoring of efficacy of therapies. This review summarizes the latest developments of molecular diagnostics and therapeutics of HCC in recent years.