Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or primary liver cancer forms in the epithelial tissue of the liver and is most commonly caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV). In the U.S., the National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that 15,000 men and 6,000 women are diagnosed with HCC each year. Worldwide, HCC accounts for 632,000 cases with the highest regions being Western Pacific and Africa according to a 2004 World Health Organization (WHO) report. Researchers from Taipei Veterans General Hospital investigated the molecular mechanisms of HCC, one of the most common tumors found in Taiwan and largely caused by the high prevalence (15%-20%) of HBV in the country. The study, funded in part by a grant from the National Science Council, is the first to provide a comprehensive profile of multiple Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) markers and to demonstrate that Snail and Twist, but not Slug, are the major inducers of EMT in HCC. Results of the study are published in the November issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
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