Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) invariably develops within a setting of chronic inflammation caused by either hepatotropic viruses, toxins, metabolic liver disease or autoimmunity. Mechanisms that link these two processes are not completely understood, but transcription factors of the NF-κB family and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-1α and ligands of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family are clearly pivotal players. HCC may have its origins in either hepatocytes or hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs), and HCCs, like other solid tumours appear to be sustained by a minority population of cancer stem cells.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alison MR, Islam S, Lim S (2009) Stem cells in liver regeneration, fibrosis and cancer: the good, the bad and the ugly. J Pathol 217(2):282–298
Alison MR, Lim SM, Nicholson LJ (2011) Cancer stem cells: problems for therapy? J Pathol 223(2):147–161
Barash H, Gross E, Edrei Y, Ella E, Israel A, Cohen I et al (2010) Accelerated carcinogenesis following liver regeneration is associated with chronic inflammation-induced double-strand DNA breaks. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107(5):2207–2212
Bartosch B, Thimme R, Blum HE, Zoulim F (2009) Hepatitis C virus-induced hepatocarcinogenesis. J Hepatol 51(4):810–820
Bataller R, Brenner DA (2005) Liver fibrosis. J Clin Invest 115(2):209–218
Berasain C, Castillo J, Perugorria MJ, Latasa MU, Prieto J, Avila MA (2009) Inflammation and liver cancer new molecular links. Steroid Enzymes and Cancer. Ann NY Acad Sci 1155:206–221
Beraza N, Malato Y, Sander LE, Al-Masaoudi M, Freimuth J, Riethmacher D et al (2009) Hepatocyte-specific NEMO deletion promotes NK/NKT cell- and TRAIL-dependent liver damage. J Exp Med 206(8):1727–1737
Bralet MP, Pichard V, Ferry N (2002) Demonstration of direct lineage between hepatocytes and hepatocellular carcinoma in diethylnitrosamine-treated rats. Hepatology 36:623–630
Brechot C (2004) Pathogenesis of hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma: old and new paradigms. Gastroenterology 127(5 Suppl 1):S56–S61
Brechot C, Kremsdorf D, Soussan P, Pineau P, Dejean A, Paterlini-Brechot P et al (2010) Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC): Molecular mechanisms and novel paradigms. Pathol Biol (Paris) 58(4):278–287
Castello G, Scala S, Palmieri G, Curley SA, Izzo F (2010) HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma: from chronic inflammation to cancer. Clin Immunol 134(3):237–250
Coussens LM, Werb Z (2002) Inflammation and cancer. Nature 420(6917):860–867
Dumble ML, Croager EJ, Yeoh GC, Quail EA (2002) Generation and characterization of p53 null transformed hepatic progenitor cells: oval cells give rise to hepatocellular carcinoma. Carcinogenesis 23:435–445
Durnez A, Verslype C, Nevens F, Fevery J, Aerts R, Pirenne J et al (2006) The clinicopathological and prognostic relevance of cytokeratin 7 and 19 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma. A possible progenitor cell origin. Histopathology 49:138–151
Elsharkawy AM, Mann DA (2007) Nuclear factor-kappaB and the hepatic inflammation-fibrosis-cancer axis. Hepatology 46(2):590–597
Fox JG, Feng Y, Theve EJ, Raczynski AR, Fiala JL, Doernte AL et al (2010) Gut microbes define liver cancer risk in mice exposed to chemical and viral transgenic hepatocarcinogens. Gut 59(1):88–97
Giebeler A, Boekschoten MV, Klein C, Borowiak M, Birchmeier C, Gassler N et al (2009) c-Met confers protection against chronic liver tissue damage and fibrosis progression after bile duct ligation in mice. Gastroenterology 137(1):297–308 e1–4
Gournay J, Auvigne I, Pichard V, Ligeza C, Bralet MP, Ferry N (2002) In vivo cell lineage analysis during chemical hepatocarcinogenesis in rats using retroviral-mediated gene transfer: evidence for dedifferentiation of mature hepatocytes. Lab Invest 82:781–788
Haybaeck J, Zeller N, Wolf MJ, Weber A, Wagner U, Kurrer MO et al (2009) A lymphotoxin-driven pathway to hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer Cell 16(4):295–308
He G, Yu GY, Temkin V, Ogata H, Kuntzen C, Sakurai T et al (2010) Hepatocyte IKKbeta/NF-kappaB inhibits tumor promotion and progression by preventing oxidative stress-driven STAT3 activation. Cancer Cell 17(3):286–297
Hussain SP, Hofseth LJ, Harris CC (2003) Radical causes of cancer. Nat Rev Cancer 3(4):276–285
Ikeda H, Sasaki M, Sato Y, Harada K, Zen Y, Mitsui T et al (2009) Large cell change of hepatocytes in chronic viral hepatitis represents a senescent-related lesion. Hum Pathol 40(12):1774–1782
Karin M (2006) Nuclear factor-kappaB in cancer development and progression. Nature 441(7092):431–436
Karin M, Greten FR (2005) NF-kappaB: linking inflammation and immunity to cancer development and progression. Nat Rev Immunol 5(10):749–759
Klaassen CD, Reisman SA (2010) Nrf2 the rescue: effects of the antioxidative/electrophilic response on the liver. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 244(1):57–65
Kremsdorf D, Soussan P, Paterlini-Brechot P, Brechot C (2006) Hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma: paradigms for viral-related human carcinogenesis. Oncogene 25(27):3823–3833
Lee JS, Heo J, Libbrecht L, Chu IS, Kaposi-Novak P, Calvisi DF et al (2006) A novel prognostic subtype of human hepatocellular carcinoma derived from hepatic progenitor cells. Nat Med 12:410–416
Lin WR, Lim SN, McDonald SA, Graham T, Wright VL, Peplow CL et al (2010) The histogenesis of regenerative nodules in human liver cirrhosis. Hepatology 51(3):1017–1026
Liu Y, Li PK, Li C, Lin J (2010) Inhibition of STAT3 signaling blocks the anti-apoptotic activity of IL-6 in human liver cancer cells. J Biol Chem 285(35):27429–27439
Luedde T, Beraza N, Kotsikoris V, van Loo G, Nenci A, De Vos R et al (2007) Deletion of NEMO/IKKgamma in liver parenchymal cells causes steatohepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer Cell 11(2):119–132
Machida K, Tsukamoto H, Liu JC, Han YP, Govindarajan S, Lai MM et al (2010) c-Jun mediates hepatitis C virus hepatocarcinogenesis through signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 and nitric oxide-dependent impairment of oxidative DNA repair. Hepatology 52(2):480–492
Maeda S, Kamata H, Luo JL, Leffert H, Karin M (2005) IKKbeta couples hepatocyte death to cytokine-driven compensatory proliferation that promotes chemical hepatocarcinogenesis. Cell 121(7):977–990
Marshall A, Rushbrook S, Davies SE, Morris LS, Scott IS, Vowler SL et al (2005) Relation between hepatocyte G1 arrest, impaired hepatic regeneration, and fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Gastroenterology 128(1):33–42
McGivern DR, Lemon SM (2009) Tumor suppressors, chromosomal instability, and hepatitis C virus-associated liver cancer. Annu Rev Pathol 4:399–415
Moynagh PN (2005) The NF-kappaB pathway. J Cell Sci 118(Pt 20):4589–4592
Neuveut C, Wei Y, Buendia MA (2010) Mechanisms of HBV-related hepatocarcinogenesis. J Hepatol 52:594–604
Ogata H, Kobayashi T, Chinen T, Takaki H, Sanada T, Minoda Y et al (2006) Deletion of the SOCS3 gene in liver parenchymal cells promotes hepatitis-induced hepatocarcinogenesis. Gastroenterology 131(1):179–193
Park EJ, Lee JH, Yu GY, He G, Ali SR, Holzer RG et al (2010) Dietary and genetic obesity promote liver inflammation and tumorigenesis by enhancing IL-6 and TNF expression. Cell 140(2):197–208
Pereira TA, Witek RP, Syn WK, Choi SS, Bradrick S, Karaca GF et al (2010) Viral factors induce Hedgehog pathway activation in humans with viral hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Lab Invest 90(12):1690–1703
Pikarsky E, Porat RM, Stein I, Abramovitch R, Amit S, Kasem S et al (2004) NF-kappaB functions as a tumour promoter in inflammation-associated cancer. Nature 431(7007):461–466
Rebouissou S, Amessou M, Couchy G, Poussin K, Imbeaud S, Pilati C et al (2009) Frequent in-frame somatic deletions activate gp130 in inflammatory hepatocellular tumours. Nature 457(7226):200–204
Schutte K, Bornschein J, Malfertheiner P (2009) Hepatocellular carcinoma–epidemiological trends and risk factors. Dig Dis 27:80–92
Seki E, De Minicis S, Osterreicher CH, Kluwe J, Osawa Y, Brenner DA et al (2007) TLR4 enhances TGF-beta signaling and hepatic fibrosis. Nat Med 13:1324–1332
Simonetti J, Bulkow L, McMahon BJ, Homan C, Snowball M, Negus S et al (2010) Clearance of hepatitis B surface antigen and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in a cohort chronically infected with hepatitis B virus. Hepatology 51(5):1531–1537
Sirica AE (2005) Cholangiocarcinoma: molecular targeting strategies for chemoprevention and therapy. Hepatology 41:5–15
Studach LL, Rakotomalala L, Wang WH, Hullinger RL, Cairo S, Buendia MA et al (2009) Polo-like kinase 1 inhibition suppresses hepatitis B virus X protein-induced transformation in an in vitro model of liver cancer progression. Hepatology 50(2):414–423
Theise ND, Yao JL, Harada K, Hytiroglou P, Portmann B, Thung SN et al (2003) Hepatic ‘stem cell’ malignancies in adults: four cases. Histopathology 43:263–271
Yamashita T, Forgues M, Wang W, Kim JW, Ye Q, Jia H et al (2008) EpCAM and alpha-fetoprotein expression defines novel prognostic subtypes of hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer Res 68:1451–1461
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer-Velag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Alison, M.R., Nicholson, L.J., Lin, WR. (2011). Chronic Inflammation and Hepatocellular Carcinoma. In: Jankowski, J. (eds) Inflammation and Gastrointestinal Cancers. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 185. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03503-6_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03503-6_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-03502-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-03503-6
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)