Chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus has been linked epidemiologically to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma for more than 30 years. Although the mechanisms by which chronic hepatitis B viral infection results in hepatocellular carcinoma are unclear, there is good evidence that the virus itself exerts a direct hepatocarcinogenic effect, and this has implications for prevention....

Hepatocellular carcinoma has a decisive influence on the prognosis of cirrhotic patients, and the use of imaging modalities is essential for the screening, diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. Ultrasound plays a major role among them, because it provides real-time and non-invasive observation by a simple and easy technique. In addition, ultrasound-guided needle puncture methods ...

Inflammatory pseudotumor of the liver is a rare tumor. It has variable clinical presentations and image findings. It can mimic benign or malignant hepatic tumors, and may be difficult to diagnose. We present a case in which a hepatic inflammatory pseudotumor was misdiagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma because the tumor presented a typical enhancing profile and morphology of hepatocellular carc...

BACKGROUND Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is a key innate immunity receptor that initiates an inflammatory response. Growing evidence suggests that mutation of TLR4 gene may play a role in the development of cancers. This study aimed to investigate the temporal relationship of single nucleotide polymorphisms of TLR4 and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, a single center-based case-control study...

Hepatocellular carcinoma is among the most common and lethal cancers in humans. Hepatocellular carcinoma is commonly associated with physical or functional inactivation of the p53 tumor suppressor, high levels of chromosomal instability, and disease conditions causing chronic cycles of hepatocyte death and regeneration. Mounting evidence has implicated regeneration-induced telomere erosion as a...

Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) converts the superoxide anion into H2O2, which, unless it is detoxified by glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPx1), can increase hepatic iron and can react with iron to form genotoxic compounds. We investigated the role of Ala/Val-MnSOD and Pro/Leu-GPx1 polymorphisms on hepatic iron accumulation and hepatocellular carcinoma development in patients with alcoholic c...

1. To assess the value of serum alpha-L-fucosidase (EC 3.2.1.51) as a marker for hepatocellular carcinoma, the activity was measured in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and in control subjects. 2. Mean serum alpha-L-fucosidase activity was significantly greater in 35 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (225 +/- 69 nkat/l) than in 35 patients with cirrhosis and 20 normal subjects (134 +...

PURPOSE Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a tumor-associated antigen in hepatocellular carcinoma and is a target for the development of cancer vaccine. Four immunodominant AFP-derived HLA-A*0201-restricted peptides have been identified and the administration of these peptides with an adjuvant has stimulated AFP-specific CTL responses in hepatocellular carcinoma patients. However, no AFP-derived CD4 T-...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common form of liver cancer (~80%), and it is one of the few cancer types with rising incidence in the United States. This highly invasive cancer is very difficult to detect until its later stages, resulting in limited treatment options and low survival rates. There is a dearth of knowledge regarding the mechanisms associated with the effects of biomec...

The occurrence of de novo hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation is a rare event with only few cases reported in the literature. In a post liver transplantation setting distinguishing between a de novo hepatocellular carcinoma from recurrence should be tested with molecular analysis such as fluorescent in situ hybridization (for sex chromosomes) or microsatellite analysis. Neverth...