Understanding the Molecular Diverse Makeup of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Amaia Lujambio Goizueta, PhD, an assistant professor of Oncological Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, discusses mutations commonly seen in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the targeted therapies available for these tumors.

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0:08 | Every tumor is very diverse in every tumor type, but HCC is in particular very diverse if we compare it to other tumor types. That means that tumors from different patients have very different mutations and very different combinations of mutations.

0:28 | So, the gene that is most frequently mutated is the promoter of a telomerase, which confers the cancer cells with basically unlimited replication potential. And then there are other genes such as p53, and beta catenin that are also frequently mutated. However, the way these mutations are mutated, they are not mutated together. They are mutated in different patients. So, that makes it more difficult to treat because right now, there are not selective therapies for HCC patients, which means that basically, all the patients receive the same treatment more or less. There are different therapies but there is not a way of selecting the best therapy for each patient.