New insights into molecular diagnostic pathology of primary liver cancer: Advances and challenges.
Primary liver cancer (PLC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide with increasing incidence and accounts for the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Traditional morphopathology primarily emphasizes qualitative diagnosis of PLC, which is not sufficient to resolve the major concern of increasing the long-term treatment efficacy of PLC in clinical management for the modern era. Since the beginning of the 21st century, molecular pathology has played an active role in the investigation of the evaluation of the metastatic potential of PLC, detection of drug targets, prediction of recurrence risks, analysis of clonal origins, evaluation of the malignancy trend of precancerous lesions, and determination of clinical prognosis. As a result, many new progresses have been obtained, and new strategies of molecular-pathological diagnosis have been formed. Moreover, the new types of pathobiological diagnosis indicator systems for PLC have been preliminarily established. These achievements provide valuable molecular pathology-based guide for clinical formulation of individualized therapy programs for PLC. This review article briefly summarizes some relevant progresses of molecular-pathological diagnosis of PLC from the perspective of clinical translational application other than basic experimental studies.
Department of Pathology, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200438, China. Electronic address: wmcong@smmu.edu.cn.
Wen-Ming
WM
Cong
Department of Surgery, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200438, China.
Meng-Chao
MC
Wu
D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D018281:Cholangiocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D010641:Phenotype; D057285:Precision Medicine; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor
Diagnosis; Liver cancer; Molecular pathology; Treatment model