Trial Information

Identification of Survival-related microRNAs in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer deaths in Taiwan. HCC normally
develops as a consequence of underlying liver disease and is most often associated with
cirrhosis. Surgical resection and liver transplantation are current best curative options to
treat HCC. However, recurrence or metastasis is quite common in patients who have had a
resection and survival rate is 30% to 40% at 5 years postoperatively.

MicroRNAs, small non-coding RNA, act as endogenous RNA interference by post-transcription
regulation. Recent studies suggest that microRNAs may act as tumor suppressors or oncogenes
and altered microRNA expression levels may play an important role in the cancer initiation
and progression. Several studies, including ourselves, have shown that specific microRNAs
are aberrantly expressed in malignant HCC tissues compared to normal counterpart. Although
many microRNA profiling studies were done to diagnose hepatocarcinogenesis, data about
prognostic significances for postsurgical survival are very limited. The main point of this
study is to develop a predictive signature for postsurgical survival in HCC patients.