Muto Jun, Shirabe Ken, Sugimachi Keishi, Maehara Yoshihiko
Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Hepatol Res. 2015 Jan;45(1):1-9. doi: 10.1111/hepr.12310. Epub 2014 Apr 2.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a hypervascular tumor, and its vascularity is unique and greatly different from peripheral parenchyma of liver. Afferent and efferent vessels of HCC lesions come to differ as the lesion develops. The characteristic of the flow regulates the common style of metastasis. The portal tract of the HCC lesion is the first site of the intrahepatic metastasis, because cancer cells roll into the portal vein via efferent flow. On microscopic observation, HCC displays marked vascular abnormalities, arteriogenesis and capillarization. Arteriogenesis is defined as the growth of functional collateral arteries covered with smooth muscle cells from pre-existing arteries. Sinusoidal capillarization involves the transformation of fenestrated hepatic sinusoids into continuous capillaries. Several angiogenic factors have been reported, and some of them are studied as prognostic factors or target molecules of chemotherapeutic reagents. However, the mechanism of neovascularization during HCC development is still unclear. This review discusses the characteristics of angiogenesis in HCC and known angiogenic factors of HCC.
肝细胞癌（HCC）是一种血管丰富的肿瘤，其血管特征独特，与肝脏周边实质有很大差异。随着HCC病变的发展，其传入和传出血管会有所不同。血流特征决定了转移的常见方式。HCC病变的门静脉区域是肝内转移的首个部位，因为癌细胞通过传出血流进入门静脉。在显微镜观察下，HCC表现出明显的血管异常、动脉生成和毛细血管化。动脉生成是指从现有动脉生长出覆盖平滑肌细胞的功能性侧支动脉。窦状毛细血管化涉及有窗孔的肝血窦转变为连续毛细血管。已有多种血管生成因子被报道，其中一些被作为预后因素或化疗试剂的靶分子进行研究。然而，HCC发生发展过程中的新生血管形成机制仍不清楚。本文综述了HCC血管生成的特征以及已知的HCC血管生成因子。
