©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 14, 2016; 22(2): 823-832
Published online Jan 14, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i2.823
Published online Jan 14, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i2.823
Targeting Wnt/β-catenin pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma treatment
Valery Vilchez, Lilia Turcios, Francesc Marti, Roberto Gedaly, Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0284, United States
Author contributions: Vilchez V, Turcios L, Marti F and Gedaly R contributed equally in developing the concept, writing and correcting this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interest for this article.
Correspondence to: Roberto Gedaly, MD, Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0284, United States. rgeda2@uky.edu
Telephone: +1-859-3234661 Fax: +1-859-2573644
Received: October 27, 2015
Peer-review started: October 31, 2015
First decision: November 13, 2015
Revised: December 5, 2015
Accepted: December 19, 2015
Article in press: December 21, 2015
Published online: January 14, 2016
Processing time: 68 Days and 18.6 Hours
Peer-review started: October 31, 2015
First decision: November 13, 2015
Revised: December 5, 2015
Accepted: December 19, 2015
Article in press: December 21, 2015
Published online: January 14, 2016
Processing time: 68 Days and 18.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Several signaling pathways have been described to be deregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). There are limited treatment options currently available in advanced liver cancer. Wnt/β-catenin pathway is frequently upregulated and has emerged as an alternative target in HCC. Our group has studied the role of β-catenin inhibition alone and in combination in HCC treatment. In this review we summarized the existing literature on the importance of Wnt/β-catenin pathway on hepatocarcinogenesis, tumor progression, relationship with liver stem cells and cancer therapeutics.