GPC-3 in hepatocellular carcinoma: current perspectives

Abstract

Glypican-3 (GPC3), a member of heparan sulfate proteoglycans, attaches to the cell membrane and is frequently observed to be elevated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, GPC3 is not detected in normal liver tissues and benign liver lesions. Consequently, GPC3 is currently being used as a diagnostic biomarker and HCC-specific positron emission computed tomography probe to identify HCCs in normal liver tissues and benign liver lesions. The overexpression of GPC-3 in serum or liver tissue also predicts poor prognosis for HCC patients. In addition, GPC3 promotes HCC growth and metastasis by activating the canonical Wnt and other signaling pathways. Targeting of GPC3, including GC33, HN3 and YP7, might offer new immunotherapeutic tools for HCC treatment.

Keywords:

• glypican-3
• hepatocellular carcinoma
• diagnostics
• prognosis
• immunotherapy

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Ms Shan Shan Wang for her support in providing a summary of possible signaling networks for GPC3. This study was supported by the Capital Science and Technology Development Fund (2014-1-2181), Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals Clinical Medicine Development of Special Funding (ZYLX201610) and Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals’ Ascent Plan (DFL20151602).

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.