Novel hepatocellular carcinoma molecules with prognostic and therapeutic potentials

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death. The modest efficacy of the therapeutic approaches also depends on the fact that the diagnosis often occurs in the late stages of the disease. Thus, the identification of early markers of onset and progression could be of significant benefit. Here we mainly focus on the latest data pointing the attention towards: (1) biochemical cellular markers; (2) micro-interfering RNA; (3) epigenetic variations; and (4) tumor stroma. The integration of these different lines of investigations should represent promising strategies to identify effective HCC markers.