Impact of cytokines in hepatocellular carcinoma initiation and progression

Abstract

Over the past several decades, numerous studies have shown that inflammatory diseases and infections trigger or promote the development and progression of many types of cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Despite considerable progress in HCC diagnosis and improvement of the curative strategies, its incidence is still increasing in western countries and the prognosis of patients with advanced HCC remains in general very poor. Diverse immune cell types associated with the release of a large spectrum of inflammatory cytokines appeared to be a key component in HCC emergence, progression and in therapeutic failures. In addition to curative strategies for HCC, it is of interest to identify and block the immune cell types and their associated cytokines susceptible to trigger tumor initiation and progression.