an overview of biomarkers and molecular signatures in hcc概述生物标志物和分子特征的肝癌.pdfVIP

Cancers 2010, 2, 809-823; doi:10.3390/cancers2020809 OPEN ACCESS cancers ISSN 2072-6694 /journal/cancers Review An Overview of Biomarkers and Molecular Signatures in HCC Seon-Hee Yim 1 and Yeun-Jun Chung 1,2,* 1 Integrated Research Center for Genome Polymorphism, The Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine, 505 Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul 137-701, Korea; E-Mail: lyra@catholic.ac.kr (S.Y.) 2 Department of Microbiology, The Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine, 505 Banpo- dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul 137-701, Korea * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: yejun@catholic.ac.kr; Tel.: +82-2-2258-7343; Fax: +82-596-8969. Received: 19 March 2010; in revised form: 30 April 2010 / Accepted: 7 May 2010 / Published: 7 May 2010 Abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Although most HCCs seem to originate from the accumulation of genetic abnormalities induced by various risk factors, underlying mechanisms of hepatocarcinogenesis remain unclear. Long-term survival of HCC patients is also poor, partly due to HCC recurrence. Although serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level is a useful marker for the detection and monitoring of HCC, AFP levels may remain normal in the patients even with advanced HCC. To identify useful biomarkers for HCC, many studies have been conducted on molecular events such as genetic and epigenetic alterations, and gene expression. This review sum