Published in

MDPI, Cells, 11(9), p. 2382, 2020

DOI: 10.3390/cells9112382

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The Angiopoietin/Tie2 Pathway in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Due to the usually late diagnosis and lack of effective therapies, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which poses a growing global health problem, is characterized by a poor prognosis. Angiogenesis plays an important role in HCC progression, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiopoietins (Angs) are key drivers of HCC angiogenesis. VEGF-targeting strategies already represent an important component of today’s systemic treatment landscape of HCC, whereas targeting the Ang/Tie2 signaling pathway may harbor future potential in this context due to reported beneficial anticancer effects when targeting this pathway. In addition, a better understanding of the relation between Angs and HCC angiogenesis and progression may reveal their potential as predictive factors for post-treatment disease progression and prognosis. In this review, we give a comprehensive overview of the complex role of Ang/Tie2 signaling in HCC, pinpointing its potential value as biomarker and target for HCC treatments, aiding HCC diagnosis and therapy.