Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 7, 2024; 30(41): 4503-4508
Published online Nov 7, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i41.4503
MicroRNA-206 as a promising epigenetic approach to modulate tumor-associated macrophages in hepatocellular carcinoma
Davide Ramoni, Fabrizio Montecucco
Davide Ramoni, Fabrizio Montecucco, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa 16132, Italy
Fabrizio Montecucco, First Clinic of Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino Genoa - Italian Cardiovascular Network, Genoa 16132, Italy
Author contributions: Montecucco F drafted the manuscript; Ramoni D wrote the full manuscript; All authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Fabrizio Montecucco, MD, PhD, Full Professor, First Clinic of Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino Genoa - Italian Cardiovascular Network, Genoa 16132, Italy. fabrizio.montecucco@unige.it
Received: August 9, 2024
Revised: September 27, 2024
Accepted: October 8, 2024
Published online: November 7, 2024
Processing time: 74 Days and 5.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Hepatocellular carcinoma is a highly aggressive tumor often associated with chronic liver disease and cirrhosis with limited treatment options for patients ineligible for surgery or transplantation. Thus, there is an urgent need to explore alternative therapeutic options. This letter highlights the modulation of M2-tumor-associated macrophage polarization via Wnt/β-catenin and other pathways, as well as the role of microRNA (miR)-206 in promoting anti-tumor immunity. miR-206 stimulates M1 Kupffer cell polarization, recruits CD8+ T cells, and inhibits the expansion of liver cancer stem cells. Understanding these mechanisms could pave the way for targeted therapies that improve outcomes for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.