title: Clinical proteomics for liver disease: a promising approach for discovery of novel biomarkers.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer and advanced hepatic fibrosis is a major risk factor for HCC. Hepatic fibrosis including liver cirrhosis and HCC are mainly induced by persistent hepatitis B or C virus infection, with approximately 500 million people infected with hepatitis B or C virus worldwide. Furthermore, the number of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has recently increased and NAFLD can progress to cirrhosis and HCC. These chronic liver diseases are major causes of morbidity and mortality, and the identification of non-invasive biomarkers is important for early diagnosis. Recent advancements in quantitative and large-scale proteomic methods could be used to optimize the clinical application of biomarkers. Early diagnosis of HCC and assessment of the stage of hepatic fibrosis or NAFLD can also contribute to more effective therapeutic interventions and an improve prognosis. Furthermore, advancements of proteomic techniques contribute not only to the discovery of clinically useful biomarkers, but also in clarifying the molecular mechanisms of disease pathogenesis by using body fluids, such as serum, and tissue samples and cultured cells. In this review, we report recent advances in quantitative proteomics and several findings focused on liver diseases, including HCC, NAFLD, hepatic fibrosis and hepatitis B or C virus infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive and Lifestyle-related Diseases, Health Research Human and Environmental Sciences, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, 890-8544, Japan. hirouto@m2.kufm.kagoshima-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uto
authors.forename: Shuji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanmura
authors.forename: Yoichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takami
authors.forename: Hirohito
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsubouchi