Current view of liver cancer cell-of-origin and proposed mechanisms precluding its proper determination

Cancer Cell International

Review

Tomasz Gromowski¹  Jaroslaw Cisowski¹  Veronika Lukacs-Kornek² 

[1] Department of General Biochemistry, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland;Institute of Experimental Immunology, University Hospital of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University, Bonn, Germany;

关键词: Hepatocellular carcinoma;    Cholangiocellular carcinoma;    Differentiation;    Cell plasticity;    Cell-of-origin;    Cancer stem cells;    Transdifferentiation;    Metaplasia;    Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12935-022-02843-0

 received in 2022-09-01, accepted in 2022-12-30,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma are devastating primary liver cancers with increasing prevalence in many parts of the world. Despite intense investigation, many aspects of their biology are still largely obscure. For example, numerous studies have tackled the question of the cell-of-origin of primary liver cancers using different experimental approaches; they have not, however, provided a clear and undisputed answer. Here, we will review the evidence from animal models supporting the role of all major types of liver epithelial cells: hepatocytes, cholangiocytes, and their common progenitor as liver cancer cell-of-origin. Moreover, we will also propose mechanisms that promote liver cancer cell plasticity (dedifferentiation, transdifferentiation, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition) which may contribute to misinterpretation of the results and which make the issue of liver cancer cell-of-origin particularly complex.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

Fig. 8