Pancreatic and hepatocellular cancers are one of the most common malignancies responsible for global mortality and poor prognosis. The early detection of the diseases remain challenging as clinical characteristics are asymptomatic and majority of cases are diagnosed at advanced stages with higher rates of metastasis and recurrence. Molecular mechanisms still remain relatively unknown and further studies are required to deepen our understanding for the development of therapeutic strategies for treatment. Studies have demonstrated identification of novel biomarkers in the detection and diagnosis of pancreatic and hepatocellular cancers.
Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is the most common biomarker used to diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). AFP changes can be identified based on elevated serum AFP levels and imaging features allowing AFP-positive HCC (APHC) to be easily diagnosed but AFP-negative HCC (ANHC) cannot be detected easily due to the lack of ideal biomarkers and therefore is more dependent on imaging. Furthermore, imaging represents various challenges as ANHC tumors are small due to being early stage HCC. This has led to difficulty in the diagnosis of ANHC as patients most commonly reach an advanced stage at diagnosis. Studies have focused on blood biomarkers including DNA biomarkers, RNA biomarkers, protein biomarkers to determine how they can improve the diagnosis for ANHC.
Other studies have identified DNAJB1 as a potential diagnostic biomarker for pancreatic cancer which was found by the prognostic prediction model based on four CpG sites for predicting the prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients. Similarly, the protein hypoxia-inducible lipid droplet-associated (HILPDA) has been found to be differentially expressed in various cancers. HILPDA was found to be highly expressed which was associated with poor prognosis and survival in various cancers in addition to being connected with the glycolysis pathway and infiltration of immune cells. It was found that tumor-associated macrophage infiltration increased in pancreatic tissues with high HILPDA expression and therefore HILPDA can act as a potential diagnostic biomarker for pancreatic cancer.
There is an interest in the identification of potential novel diagnostic biomarkers in the field of pancreatic and hepatocellular cancers to ultimately improve prognosis and overall survival rate of patients. Topics of interest include:
-Blood biomarkers in diagnosis for hepatocellular carcinoma
-Dysregulated microRNAs in Hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma
-DNAJB1 and HILPDA as novel biomarkers for pancreatic cancer
-Serum biomarkers for diagnosing pancreatic cancer
-Identification of novel biomarkers that influence pancreatic and hepatocellular cancers
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
Pancreatic and hepatocellular cancers are one of the most common malignancies responsible for global mortality and poor prognosis. The early detection of the diseases remain challenging as clinical characteristics are asymptomatic and majority of cases are diagnosed at advanced stages with higher rates of metastasis and recurrence. Molecular mechanisms still remain relatively unknown and further studies are required to deepen our understanding for the development of therapeutic strategies for treatment. Studies have demonstrated identification of novel biomarkers in the detection and diagnosis of pancreatic and hepatocellular cancers.
Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is the most common biomarker used to diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). AFP changes can be identified based on elevated serum AFP levels and imaging features allowing AFP-positive HCC (APHC) to be easily diagnosed but AFP-negative HCC (ANHC) cannot be detected easily due to the lack of ideal biomarkers and therefore is more dependent on imaging. Furthermore, imaging represents various challenges as ANHC tumors are small due to being early stage HCC. This has led to difficulty in the diagnosis of ANHC as patients most commonly reach an advanced stage at diagnosis. Studies have focused on blood biomarkers including DNA biomarkers, RNA biomarkers, protein biomarkers to determine how they can improve the diagnosis for ANHC.
Other studies have identified DNAJB1 as a potential diagnostic biomarker for pancreatic cancer which was found by the prognostic prediction model based on four CpG sites for predicting the prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients. Similarly, the protein hypoxia-inducible lipid droplet-associated (HILPDA) has been found to be differentially expressed in various cancers. HILPDA was found to be highly expressed which was associated with poor prognosis and survival in various cancers in addition to being connected with the glycolysis pathway and infiltration of immune cells. It was found that tumor-associated macrophage infiltration increased in pancreatic tissues with high HILPDA expression and therefore HILPDA can act as a potential diagnostic biomarker for pancreatic cancer.
There is an interest in the identification of potential novel diagnostic biomarkers in the field of pancreatic and hepatocellular cancers to ultimately improve prognosis and overall survival rate of patients. Topics of interest include:
-Blood biomarkers in diagnosis for hepatocellular carcinoma
-Dysregulated microRNAs in Hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma
-DNAJB1 and HILPDA as novel biomarkers for pancreatic cancer
-Serum biomarkers for diagnosing pancreatic cancer
-Identification of novel biomarkers that influence pancreatic and hepatocellular cancers
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
