Hepatic stem-like phenotype and interplay of Wnt/beta-catenin and Myc signaling in aggressive childhood liver cancer. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Hepatoblastoma, the most common pediatric liver cancer, is tightly linked to excessive Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. Here, we used microarray analysis to identify two tumor subclasses resembling distinct phases of liver development and a discriminating 16-gene signature. beta-catenin activated different transcriptional programs in the two tumor types, with distinctive expression of hepatic stem/progenitor markers in immature tumors. This highly proliferating subclass was typified by gains of chromosomes 8q and 2p and upregulated Myc signaling. Myc-induced hepatoblastoma-like tumors in mice strikingly resembled the human immature subtype, and Myc downregulation in hepatoblastoma cells impaired tumorigenesis in vivo. Remarkably, the 16-gene signature discriminated invasive and metastatic hepatoblastomas and predicted prognosis with high accuracy.

authors

publication date

  • December 9, 2008

Research

keywords

  • Liver
  • Liver Neoplasms
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc
  • Wnt Proteins
  • beta Catenin

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 57049182539

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.ccr.2008.11.002

PubMed ID

  • 19061838

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 14

issue

  • 6