Abstract
The occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is closely related to the chronic inflammation which caused liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, and the interaction between HCC and its microenvironment further drives tumorigenesis. However, the single-cell resolution in vivo study is lacking, which limits our molecular understanding of tumour biology in the liver. Here, using published single-cell sequencing technology (scRNA-seq) database, we analyzed the liver microenvironment at high resolution in an unbiased manner and demonstrated the transcriptomic comparison between various cell populations and subpopulations in HCC and cirrhosis tissues. We found that eight genes that are specifically expressed in the endothelial cell and stellate cell of the HCC patients and correlated them with their survival rate, which may provide novel diagnosis and treatment targets for the clinical application.
Highlights
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer, which seriously harms human health
The unique connection between HCC and fibrosis indicates that liver fibrosis in the precancerous environment (PME) of the liver plays an important role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma [4]
Each cell type has been successfully annotated by known marker genes (Figures 1(b) and 1(c)), and these clusters are distinctly identified in the samples of healthy, fibrosis, and HCC patient (Figure 1(d))
Summary
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer, which seriously harms human health. A detailed understanding of the microenvironment of adjacent tissues is of great reference value for better understanding of HCC and the development of new targeted therapies. A unique feature of HCC is that its occurrence and development are closely related to liver fibrosis. More than 80% of HCC develops from fibrosis or cirrhosis of the liver, which is different from most other tumours and organs [3]. Fibrosis of other organs is usually not strongly associated with cancer development, but reactive connective tissue is formed after tumourigenesis. The unique connection between HCC and fibrosis indicates that liver fibrosis in the precancerous environment (PME) of the liver plays an important role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma [4]
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