Predictive Biomarkers in Patients With Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated With Systemic Therapy

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and HCC is more frequently observed in Asia, including South Korea. As HCC is often accompanied by chronic hepatitis B or C virus and liver cirrhosis, treatment of HCC consider not only the tumor but also various factors such as liver function and the patient's performance status. Local treatment and surgery are possible in the early stages of HCC. However, it has a high recurrence rate even after curative surgeries due to underlying cirrhosis and the tumor microenvironment. Although several studies have investigated gene mutations and differences in treatment response in advanced HCC through next-generation sequencing (NGS), studies on transcriptome analysis of advanced HCC through RNA-sequencing are hard to find, with a need for future research into precise classification and clinical significance of HCC based on multi-omics data.