title: Histone deacetylase inhibitors for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers in the world. Surgical resection has been considered the optimal treatment approach, but only a small proportion of patients are suitable candidates for surgery, and the relapse rate is high. Approaches to prevent recurrence, including chemoembolization before and adjuvant therapy after surgery, have proven to have a limited benefit; liver transplantation is successful in treating limited-stage HCC because only a minority of patients qualify for transplantation. Therefore, new therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Because in addition to the classical genetic mechanisms of deletion or inactivating point mutations, epigenetic alterations, such as hyperacetylation of the chromatin-associated histones (responsible for gene silencing), are believed to be involved in the development and progression of HCC, novel compounds endowed with a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitory activity are an attractive therapeutic approach. In particular, pre-clinical results obtained using HA-But, an HDAC inhibitor in which butyric acid residues are esterified to a hyaluronic acid backbone and characterized by a high affinity for the membrane receptor CD44, indicated that this class of compounds may represent a promising approach for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment.
authors.affiliation: UO Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Department of Experimental Oncology, Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, 20133 Milan, Italy. danila.coradini@istitutotumori.mi.it
authors.forename: Danila
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coradini
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Speranza
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020148:Butyric Acid / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D056572:Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors; D006801:Humans; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000378:metabolism; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D056572:Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors; D020148:Butyric Acid; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid