Novel Strategies for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on MMPs Science

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a cancer with extremely poor prognosis. This review discusses the pathological characteristics of multi-step hepatocarcinogenesis, tumor growth, invasion and metastasis, the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors via signal transduction in relation to dedifferentiation of hepatoma cells. It introduces the reports on anti-cancer agents in the field of MMP science, and finally describes novel strategies for the early stages of HCC in relation to cancer stem cells.