title: Targeting Wnt/β-catenin pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma treatment.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Liver cancer is generally related to hepatitis B or C infection and cirrhosis. Usually, patients with HCC are asymptomatic and are diagnosed at late stages when surgical treatment is no longer suitable. Limited treatment options for patients with advanced HCC are a major concern. Therefore, there is an urge for finding novel therapies to treat HCC. Liver cancer is highly heterogeneous and involved deregulation of several signaling pathways. Wnt/β-catenin pathway is frequently upregulated in HCC and it is implicated in maintenance of tumor initiating cells, drug resistance, tumor progression, and metastasis. A great effort in developing selective drugs to target components of the β-catenin pathway with anticancer activity is underway but only a few of them have reached phase I clinical trials. We aim to review the role of β-catenin pathway on hepatocarcinogenesis and liver cancer stem cell maintenance. We also evaluated the use of small molecules targeting the Wnt/β-catenin pathway with potential application for treatment of HCC.
authors.affiliation: Valery Vilchez, Lilia Turcios, Francesc Marti, Roberto Gedaly, Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0284, United States.
authors.forename: Valery
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vilchez
authors.affiliation: Valery Vilchez, Lilia Turcios, Francesc Marti, Roberto Gedaly, Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0284, United States.
authors.forename: Lilia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Turcios
authors.affiliation: Valery Vilchez, Lilia Turcios, Francesc Marti, Roberto Gedaly, Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0284, United States.
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marti
authors.affiliation: Valery Vilchez, Lilia Turcios, Francesc Marti, Roberto Gedaly, Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0284, United States.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gedaly
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D060449:Wnt Signaling Pathway / Q000187:drug effects*; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; D051176:beta Catenin
keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; Liver cancer stem cells; Molecular therapy; Wnt/β-catenin pathway
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