Molecular Pathology, Signaling, and Drug Resistance in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Dear Colleagues,

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the deadliest cancer types. HCC became the third most common cancer death among both sexes in 2020 and surpassed colorectal cancer to become the second most common cancer death in males. Concerningly, the incidence rates of HCC are continuously rising since the emergence of liver cancer is associated with lifestyle changes favoring metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).

Moreover, despite novel first-line therapy options, including immune checkpoint inhibitors and anti-VEGF strategies, primary and acquired resistance to first- and later-line therapies represents a crucial and unmet need, strongly limiting the long-term survival of HCC patients. In this regard, we are far from understanding the complex biology and heterogeneity of HCC.

In this Special Issue, we aim to collect high-quality contributions reporting novel insights into the complex molecular pathology and signaling of HCC. Moreover, the clinical issue of primary and acquired resistance to first- and later-line therapies urgently requires a better understanding of the underlying pathomechanisms, which will be addressed in this Special Issue.

We encourage the submission of original full research papers as well as review articles addressing novel mechanistic insights into “Molecular Pathology, Signaling, and Drug Resistance in Hepatocellular Carcinoma”. We also strongly encourage the submission of manuscripts that focus on translating basic molecular knowledge to new medical applications in oncology. Articles reporting novel technologies aimed at identifying disease biomarkers are also welcome.

Dr. Peter Dietrich
Guest Editor

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• hepatocellular carcinoma
• liver cancer
• oncology
• pathology
• drug resistance