title: Liver cancer oncogenomics: opportunities and dilemmas for clinical applications.
abstract: Primary liver cancers are among the most rapidly evolving malignant tumors worldwide. An underlying chronic inflammatory liver disease, which precedes liver cancer development for several decades and frequently creates a pro-oncogenic microenvironment, impairs progress in therapeutic approaches. Molecular heterogeneity of liver cancer is potentiated by a crosstalk between epithelial tumor and stromal cells that complicate translational efforts to unravel molecular mechanisms of hepatocarcinogenesis with a drugable intend. Next-generation sequencing has greatly advanced our understanding of cancer development. With regards to liver cancer, the unprecedented coverage of next-generation sequencing has created a detailed map of genetic alterations and identified key somatic changes such asCTNNB1andTP53as well as several previously unrecognized recurrent disease-causing alterations that could contribute to new therapeutic approaches. Importantly, these investigations indicate that a classical oncogene addiction cannot be assumed for primary liver cancer. Therefore, hepatocarcinogenesis can be considered a paradigm suitable for individualized medicine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine I, Universitätsmedizin Mainz, Langenbeckstraße 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Jens U
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Marquardt
authors.affiliation: Biotech Research & Innovation Centre (BRIC), University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaløes Vej 5, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jesper B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Andersen
keywords: cholangiocarcnoma; hepatocellular carcinoma; individualized medicine; liver cancer; next-generation sequencing; oncogenomics