The role of molecular pathology in the precision diagnosis and subclassification of hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a leading cause of cancer death worldwide despite recent advances in surveillance and therapeutic management. The outcomes for HCC patients remain poor, often as a result of late diagnosis or lack of effective treatments. Early detection and precise diagnosis...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Faculty of Medicine Trisakti University
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Universa Medicina |
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| Online Access: | https://univmed.org/ejurnal/index.php/medicina/article/view/1273 |
| _version_ | 1817995510158458880 |
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| author | Kathryn Effendi Wit Thun Kwa Akihisa Ueno Michiie Sakamoto |
| author_facet | Kathryn Effendi Wit Thun Kwa Akihisa Ueno Michiie Sakamoto |
| author_sort | Kathryn Effendi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a leading cause of cancer death worldwide despite recent advances in surveillance and therapeutic management. The outcomes for HCC patients remain poor, often as a result of late diagnosis or lack of effective treatments. Early detection and precise diagnosis are evidently crucial in improving the prognosis of HCC. However, HCC is a highly heterogeneous cancer with various clinical backgrounds and altered molecular pathways; these factors make its precise diagnosis more difficult. Approximately 25% of HCCs harbor actionable mutations, which are yet to be translated into clinical practice. In the era of precision medicine, molecular or genomic information are indispensable for HCC diagnosis and prognosis. Exploring genomic alterations has become a requirement for identifying the molecular subtypes of HCC. Recent studies have introduced molecular markers to help identify early HCC and to clarify its multistep process of carcinogenesis. The subclassification of tumors into proliferation class and nonproliferation class HCCs gives pointers to the HCC phenotype and facilitates the selection of appropriate treatments. In this review, we broadly summarize some of the latest insights into HCC subclassification from the perspective of molecular pathology. Immunohistochemistry-based subclassification allows improved characterization of HCC in daily clinical practice. Moreover, analysis of the immune microenvironment, intra-tumoral morphological heterogeneity, and imaging features gives additional information regarding the classification of HCC. Combinations of these approaches are expected to inform and advance the precision diagnosis and management of HCC.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T02:08:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7e35e58aee214873878b8523285dbcbb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1907-3062 2407-2230 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T02:08:04Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Faculty of Medicine Trisakti University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Universa Medicina |
| spelling | doaj.art-7e35e58aee214873878b8523285dbcbb2022-12-22T02:18:36ZengFaculty of Medicine Trisakti UniversityUniversa Medicina1907-30622407-22302022-06-0141210.18051/UnivMed.2022.v41.194-206The role of molecular pathology in the precision diagnosis and subclassification of hepatocellular carcinomaKathryn Effendi0Wit Thun Kwa1Akihisa Ueno2Michiie Sakamoto3Department of Pathology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, SingaporeDepartment of Pathology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Pathology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a leading cause of cancer death worldwide despite recent advances in surveillance and therapeutic management. The outcomes for HCC patients remain poor, often as a result of late diagnosis or lack of effective treatments. Early detection and precise diagnosis are evidently crucial in improving the prognosis of HCC. However, HCC is a highly heterogeneous cancer with various clinical backgrounds and altered molecular pathways; these factors make its precise diagnosis more difficult. Approximately 25% of HCCs harbor actionable mutations, which are yet to be translated into clinical practice. In the era of precision medicine, molecular or genomic information are indispensable for HCC diagnosis and prognosis. Exploring genomic alterations has become a requirement for identifying the molecular subtypes of HCC. Recent studies have introduced molecular markers to help identify early HCC and to clarify its multistep process of carcinogenesis. The subclassification of tumors into proliferation class and nonproliferation class HCCs gives pointers to the HCC phenotype and facilitates the selection of appropriate treatments. In this review, we broadly summarize some of the latest insights into HCC subclassification from the perspective of molecular pathology. Immunohistochemistry-based subclassification allows improved characterization of HCC in daily clinical practice. Moreover, analysis of the immune microenvironment, intra-tumoral morphological heterogeneity, and imaging features gives additional information regarding the classification of HCC. Combinations of these approaches are expected to inform and advance the precision diagnosis and management of HCC. https://univmed.org/ejurnal/index.php/medicina/article/view/1273Hepatocellular carcinomamolecular subclassificationMolecular pathologyimmune subtypes |
| spellingShingle | Kathryn Effendi Wit Thun Kwa Akihisa Ueno Michiie Sakamoto The role of molecular pathology in the precision diagnosis and subclassification of hepatocellular carcinoma Universa Medicina Hepatocellular carcinoma molecular subclassification Molecular pathology immune subtypes |
| title | The role of molecular pathology in the precision diagnosis and subclassification of hepatocellular carcinoma |
| title_full | The role of molecular pathology in the precision diagnosis and subclassification of hepatocellular carcinoma |
| title_fullStr | The role of molecular pathology in the precision diagnosis and subclassification of hepatocellular carcinoma |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of molecular pathology in the precision diagnosis and subclassification of hepatocellular carcinoma |
| title_short | The role of molecular pathology in the precision diagnosis and subclassification of hepatocellular carcinoma |
| title_sort | role of molecular pathology in the precision diagnosis and subclassification of hepatocellular carcinoma |
| topic | Hepatocellular carcinoma molecular subclassification Molecular pathology immune subtypes |
| url | https://univmed.org/ejurnal/index.php/medicina/article/view/1273 |
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