Page 53 - ebook HCC

50 PROGRAMME AND ABSTRACTS GENEVA, SWITZERLAND EASL HCC SUMMIT 51
FEBRUARY 13 - 16, 2014

MIXED LIVER TUMOUR DIFFERENTIATION STEM CELL-LIKE SIGNATURES IN THE
CLASSIFICATION OF HCC
Tania Roskams 1
1 University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Snorri Thorgeirsson 1
Corresponding author’s e-mail: tania.roskams@uz.kuleuven.ac.be 1 Laboratory of Experimental Carcinogenesis, Center for Cancer Research, National
Cancer Institute, NIH, MD, United States
According to the cancer stem cell (CSC) concept, hepatic carcinoma consists of a hierarchy Corresponding author’s e-mail: snorri_thorgeirsson@nih.gov
of cell populations, of which the very small cancer stem cell population is the one that has
the growth and metastatic potential of the tumour. The other neoplastic cells are offspring
of the cancer stem cells and each can differentiate a little differently, according to the local Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common and deadly cause of primary
microenvironment in each part of the tumor, hence explaining the enormous phenotypic liver cancer. Although the incidence of HCC is highest in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa
heterogeneity of a neoplasm. Current therapeutic strategies mostly target rapidly growing the steadily increasing incidence of HCC in traditionally low incidence regions such
as Northern Europe and the United States constitutes a significant public health care
BASIC SPEAKERS ABSTRACTS should therefore be developed. A prerequisite is a good understanding of the mechanisms cells or cancer-initiating cells. The concept that these cells rest at the apex of the cancer BASIC SPEAKERS ABSTRACTS
differentiated tumour cells. However the results are often unsatisfactory because of the
problem. Cells with “stemness,” or stem-cell properties, are referred to as cancer stem
chemoresistance of hepatic carcinomas. New therapies targeting cancer stem cells
of activation and differentiation of normal stem/progenitor cells in normal and diseased
hierarchy is an evolving theme in cancer research. These cells are by definition primarily
liver. Hepatocytes and cholangiocytes have stem cell features, but also progenitor
responsible for initiation and propagation of tumors as well as relapse after therapy, and
they are therefore of major scientific interest. Several studies indicate that hepatocellular
cells, located in the smallest branches of the biliary tree. Since hepatic progenitor cells
(HPCs) are activated in most chronic liver diseases which are known risk factors for the
carcinomas that harbor phenotypic features of stem cells and progenitor cells constitute a
development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as well as cholangiocellular carcinoma
(CC), progenitor cells are potential target cells for carcinogenesis. We previously
prognosis. Recent studies will be discussed in the presentation.
described subsets of primary liver carcinomas with stem/progenitor cell features and also subclass of therapeutically challenging cancers that are associated with a particularly poor
with mixed hepatocellular and cholangiocellular features, supporting the concept of HPCs
being the cell of origin of these types of tumours. Although the concept of cancer stem
cells is intriguing and a large number of experimental studies support the cancer stem cell
hypothesis, there are still open questions and room for caution. One debate concerns the
origin of cancer stem cells. Does the cancer stem cell derive initially from a normal stem
cell or from a dedifferentiated cell during tumour progression? Their functional similarities
with normal stem cells and the observation that they often share specific surface markers
at least argue for mutated stem cells as their origin.