Targeting hepatocellular carcinoma: Molecular mechanisms and clinical studies

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a highly vascularized solid tumor, is the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Its high morbidity, recurrence and mortality rates place an extremely heavy economic burden on global public health systems. Due to the insidious and aggressive nature of HCC, patients often miss the opportunity for surgical treatment at the time of diagnosis. In addition, due to certain limitations in the treatment of HCC and the phenomenon of acquired drug resistance in the course of treatment, the overall therapeutic effect of HCC is not satisfactory.This review provides a comprehensive and systematic review and summary of the current relevant mechanisms of HCC pathogenesis, targeted therapy strategies and biomarker development. This paper focuses on the interaction of multiple signaling pathways in the development and progression of HCC, and also gives a detailed analysis of the current progress and status of targeted therapy for HCC.Currently, the main therapeutic approaches for HCC include multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), monoclonal antibodies, and immunotherapy. It is particularly noteworthy that the development of novel biomarkers has injected new concepts and insights into the field of targeted therapy for HCC, and expanded related research horizons. Therefore, in this review, we conducted an in-depth investigation on the molecular mechanisms closely related to the occurrence and development of HCC, conducted a detailed review and summary of the current progress of HCC targeted therapy, and summarized some biomarkers with potential clinical application value, in order to provide a certain reference for subsequent relevant research and clinical practice.