Liquid biopsy for early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma

Frontiers in Medicine

Medicine

Irinel Popescu¹  Gabriel Oniscu²  Ioana Manea³  Speranta Iacob³  Liliana Gheorghe³  Simona Dima³  Razvan Cerban³  Razvan Iacob³ 

[1] Digestive Diseases and Liver Transplantation Center, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania;Center of Excellence in Translational Medicine, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania;Transplant Division, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden;“Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania;Digestive Diseases and Liver Transplantation Center, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania;Center of Excellence in Translational Medicine, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania;

关键词: hepatocellular carcinoma;    early diagnosis;    liquid biopsy;    cell free DNA;    extracellular vesicles;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmed.2023.1218705

 received in 2023-05-08, accepted in 2023-08-30,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly prevalent and lethal cancer globally. Over 90% of HCC cases arise in the context of liver cirrhosis, and the severity of the underlying liver disease or advanced tumor stage at diagnosis significantly limits treatment options. Early diagnosis is crucial, and all guidelines stress the importance of screening protocols for HCC early detection as a public health objective. As serum biomarkers are not optimal for early diagnosis, liquid biopsy has emerged as a promising tool for diagnosis, prognostication, and patients’ stratification for personalized therapy in various solid tumors, including HCC. While circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are better suited for personalized therapy and prognosis, cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and extracellular vesicle-based technologies show potential for early diagnosis, HCC screening, and surveillance protocols. Evaluating the added value of liquid biopsy genetic and epigenetic biomarkers for HCC screening is a key goal in translational research. Somatic mutations commonly found in HCC can be investigated in cfDNA and plasma exosomes as genetic biomarkers. Unique methylation patterns in cfDNA or cfDNA fragmentome features have been suggested as innovative tools for early HCC detection. Likewise, extracellular vesicle cargo biomarkers such as miRNAs and long non-coding RNAs may serve as potential biomarkers for early HCC detection. This review will explore recent findings on the utility of liquid biopsy for early HCC diagnosis. Combining liquid biopsy methods with traditional serological biomarkers could improve the overall diagnostic accuracy for early HCC detection.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Manea, Iacob, Iacob, Cerban, Dima, Oniscu, Popescu and Gheorghe.