The hepatitis B virus-associated tumor microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma.
In contrast to a majority of cancer types, the initiation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is intimately associated with a chronically diseased liver tissue, with one of the most prevalent etiological factors being hepatitis B virus (HBV). Transformation of the liver in HBV-associated HCC often follows from or accompanies long-term symptoms of chronic hepatitis, inflammation and cirrhosis, and viral load is a strong predictor for both incidence and progression of HCC. Besides aiding in transformation, HBV plays a crucial role in modulating the accumulation and activation of both cellular components of the microenvironment, such as immune cells and fibroblasts, and non-cellular components of the microenvironment, such as cytokines and growth factors, markedly influencing disease progression and prognosis. This review will explore some of these components and mechanisms to demonstrate both underlying themes and the inherent complexity of these interacting systems in the initiation, progression, and metastasis of HBV-positive HCC.
Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA ; CAS Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Pengyuan
P
Yang
Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Geoffrey J
GJ
Markowitz
Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Xiao-Fan
XF
Wang
cytokines; growth factors; hepatitis B; hepatocellular carcinoma; leukocytes; tumor microenvironment