title: Exosomes: small vesicles with big roles in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Despite improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the prognosis is still poor. Pioneering work has demonstrated a potential role for tumour cell-derived exosomes (TEXs) in HCC. TEXs can mediate immune responses, antigen presentation and intracellular communication by serving as vehicles for the transfer of proteins, viruses, lipids and RNA between cells. An improved understanding of the roles played by exosomes could lead to a powerful new strategy for preventing and treating HCC. In this review, we summarise current understanding on the topic. The literature points to two faces of TEXs in HCC: 1) They can promote invasion, metastasis, immune evasion and modulation and 2) they can act as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, and can be used in anti-cancer drug resistance and immunotherapy in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Eighth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guigang City People's Hospital, Guigang, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Zhitong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Qinghai
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Third Afﬁliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Liuzhou, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Yifan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000502:physiology*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D055354:Exosomes / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D022142:Secretory Vesicles / Q000502:physiology*; D019139:Tumor Escape; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor
keywords: biomarker; exosomes; function; hepatocellular carcinoma