Meng Xiangzhe, Liu Xue
Second Clinical College, Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong, China.
Department of Pathology, College of Basic Medicine, Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong, China.
J Clin Transl Hepatol. 2022 Feb 28;10(1):140-146. doi: 10.14218/JCTH.2021.00224. Epub 2021 Aug 10.
The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is significantly lower in women than men, implying that estrogen receptors (ERs) may play an important role in this sex dimorphism. Recently, considerable progress has been made in expanding our understanding of the mechanisms of ERs in HCC. As one of the most important ERs, ERα functions as a tumor suppressor in the progression of HCC through various pathways, such as STAT3 signaling pathways, lipid metabolism-related signaling pathways, and non-coding RNAs. However, the function of ERα was reduced with the changes of some molecules in the liver, which may develop further into HCC and make it difficult to achieve an effective hormone treatment effect. Intriguingly, there are signs that individualized hormone therapy according to the activity of ERα will overcome this challenge. Based on these observations, it is particularly imperative to reassess and extend the function of ERα. In this review, we mainly elucidated molecular mechanisms associated with ERα in HCC and investigated the individualized hormone therapy based on these mechanisms, with the aim of providing new insights for HCC treatment.
肝细胞癌（HCC）在女性中的发病率显著低于男性，这意味着雌激素受体（ERs）可能在这种性别差异中起重要作用。最近，在扩大我们对ERs在HCC中的作用机制的理解方面取得了相当大的进展。作为最重要的ERs之一，ERα通过各种途径，如STAT3信号通路、脂质代谢相关信号通路和非编码RNA，在HCC进展中发挥肿瘤抑制作用。然而，随着肝脏中某些分子的变化，ERα的功能会降低，这可能会进一步发展为HCC，并使有效的激素治疗效果难以实现。有趣的是，有迹象表明根据ERα的活性进行个体化激素治疗将克服这一挑战。基于这些观察结果，重新评估和扩展ERα的功能尤为紧迫。在这篇综述中，我们主要阐明了与HCC中ERα相关的分子机制，并基于这些机制研究了个体化激素治疗，旨在为HCC治疗提供新的见解。
