Current perspectives of recurrence and progression in hepatocellular carcinoma

There has been great progress in understanding the molecular biology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and in the development of new therapies, and cures are now possible in some patients. Nonetheless, the high rates of recurrence and metastasis remain significant clinical challenges. In this article, a PubMed database search was performed to identify the articles relevant to recurrence and progression of HCC. Many recent studies have examined mechanisms of HCC and potential targets for therapy of HCC in efforts to reduce postoperative recurrence. The invasion and metastasis of HCC are complex processes that involve multiple steps, including liver cancer stem cells, cancer biology, matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and their regulatory factors, and tumor angiogenesis. With the deep going of understanding for HCC, and it seems that the new feasible strategies for cancer treatment will require a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of development and progression of HCC.