Oncogenic Wnt3a Signaling as a Specific Molecular Marker for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still one of the most common and rapidly fatal malignancies worldwide with a multi-factorial, multi-step, complex process, and poor prognosis. Carcinogenesis of HCC is a multi-factor, multi-step and complex process. Early discovery and effective therapy of HCC are of utmost importance. Recent studies demonstrated that Wnt/β-catenin pathway play importance roles in occurrence and development of HCC including hepatocytes malignant trans-formation, metastasis, chemo-resistance and liver cancer stem cells. Oncogenic wingless-type MMTV integration site family member 3a (Wnt3a) signaling is a promising biomarker in diagnosis and prognosis for HCC. The positive Wnt3a with brown staining particles was mainly distributed in cytosol and membrane of hepatocytes in cancerous tissues and no or lower expression in their surrounding tissues. This review presents current data on mechanisms of hepatocarcino-genesis involving participation of the Wnt canonical pathway, and focuses on the Wnt3a expression in HCC progression and its clinical application. Oncogenic Wnt3a has been confirmed abnormal expression in hepatocarcinogenesis model.