title: Genetics of hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: The completely assembled human genome has made it possible for modern medicine to step into an era rich in genetic information and high-throughput genomic analysis. These novel and readily available genetic resources and analytical tools may be the key to unravel the molecular basis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Moreover, since an efficient treatment for this disease is lacking, further understanding of the genetic background of HCC will be crucial in order to develop new therapies aimed at selected targets. We report on the current status and recent developments in HCC genetics. Special emphasis is given to the genetics and regulation of major signalling pathways involved in HCC such as p53, Wnt-signalling, TGFbeta, Ras, and Rb pathways. Furthermore, we describe the influence of chromosomal aberrations as well as of DNA methylation. Finally, we report on the rapidly developing field of genomic expression profiling in HCC, mainly by microarray analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Johannes Gutenberg University, Building 301, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55101 Mainz, Germany. teufel@uni-mainz.de
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Teufel
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Staib
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanzler
authors.forename: Arndt
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weinmann
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schulze-Bergkamen
authors.forename: Peter-R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Galle
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm