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Abstract Details
Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis-related hepatocellular carcinoma: pathogenesis and treatment
Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2023 Mar 17. doi: 10.1038/s41575-023-00754-7.Online ahead of print.
1Mount Sinai Liver Cancer Program, Division of Liver Diseases, Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. josep.llovet@mountsinai.org.
2Translational Research in Hepatic Oncology, Liver Unit, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. josep.llovet@mountsinai.org.
3Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. josep.llovet@mountsinai.org.
4Translational Research in Hepatic Oncology, Liver Unit, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
5Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Centre, Dallas, TX, USA.
6Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Centre for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA.
7Division of Chronic Inflammation and Cancer, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
8Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
9Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, TX, USA.
10Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
11Mount Sinai Liver Cancer Program, Division of Liver Diseases, Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Abstract
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), including its more severe manifestation, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), has a global prevalence of 20-25% and is a major public health problem. Its incidence is increasing in parallel to the rise in obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Progression from NASH to NASH-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (~2% of cases per year) is influenced by many factors, including the tissue and immune microenvironment, germline mutations in PNPLA3, and the microbiome. NASH-HCC has unique molecular and immune traits compared with other aetiologies of HCC and is equally prevalent in men and women. Comorbidities associated with NASH, such as obesity and diabetes mellitus, can prevent the implementation of potentially curative therapies in certain patients; nonetheless, outcomes are similar in patients who receive treatment. NASH-HCC at the early to intermediate stages is managed with surgery and locoregional therapies, whereas advanced HCC is treated with systemic therapies, including anti-angiogenic therapies and immune-checkpoint inhibitors. In this Review, we present the latest knowledge of the pathogenic mechanisms and clinical management of NASH-HCC. We discuss data highlighting the controversy over varying responses to immune-checkpoint inhibitors according to underlying aetiology and suggest that the future of NASH-HCC management lies in improved surveillance, targeted combination therapies to overcome immune evasion, and identifying biomarkers to recognize treatment responders.