Table 2 Commonly aberrant genes in hepatocellular carcinoma
From: The biology of Hepatocellular carcinoma: implications for genomic and immune therapies
| Gene | Aberration Frequency (% of patients) | Pathway | Function | Examples of Potential Targeted Agenta |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TERT promoter | About 60% [46, 47] | Telomere maintenance | Adds telomere repeats (TTAGGG) onto chromosome ends, compensating for the erosion of protective telomeric ends that is a normal part of cell division [110] | |
| TP53 |
Mutations: 3–40% Loss: 2–15% [20,21,22] | P53 pathway | Tumor suppressor [23] | Bevacizumab [33] |
| TP53 gene regulates the expression of VEGF-A. Anti-angiogenic agents were correlated with longer PFS in patients harboring TP53- mutant tumors [32] | Ramucirumab [111] | |||
| Sorafenib [13] | ||||
| Wee-1 inhibitors [36] | ||||
| CTNNB1 | Mutations: 11–41% [20,21,22] | Wnt pathway | Regulates cell adhesion, growth, and differentiation [23]. | BBI608 is a potent small molecule inhibitor [112] |
| PRI-724[112] | ||||
| Sulindac [113] | ||||
| AXIN1 | Mutations 5–19% [20,21,22] | Wnt pathway | Regulates cell adhesion, growth, and differentiation. | Small molecule inhibitor XAV939 [31] |
| ARID1A | Mutations 4–17% [20,21,22, 37] | Chromatin remodeling | Transcriptional activation and repression of selected genes via chromatin remodeling [23] | |
| CDKN2A | Deletion 7–8% [18, 20] | Cell cycle | Tumor suppressor gene promotes cell cycle arrest in G1 and G2 phases. Suppresses MDM2 [23] | CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib [13] |
| ARID2 | Mutations-5-7% [18, 21, 37] | Chromatin remodeling | Tumor suppressor gene with a role in the transcriptional activation and repression of selected genes [23] | |
| RPS6KA3 | Mutations 4–7% [18, 22] | Dual function-regulation of the MAPK/ERK and mTOR signaling | Mediates stress-induced and mitogenic activation of transcription factors and cellular differentiation, proliferation, and survival [23]. | |
| CCND1 | Alterations (focal amplifications or deletions) 4.7%–7% [18, 41] | P53 pathway Cell cycle | Functions as a regulatory subunit of CDK4 or CDK6, whose activity is required for cell cycle progression [23]. | Palbociclib [13] |
| FGF3, FGF4 or FGF19 | Alterations (focal amplification or deletions) 4–5.6% [18, 41] | FGF pathway | FGF family members possess broad mitogenic and cell survival activities and are operative in tumor growth and invasion, and tissue repair [23]. | Brivanib [44] |
| [114] | ||||
| BIBF 1120 [114] | ||||
| Dovitinib [114] | ||||
| Lenvatinib [114] |