Importance of tumor/stroma interactions in prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third largest cause of cancer deaths worldwide. The 5-year risk of HCC recurrence after resection is as high as 70% because the underlying chronic liver disease continues to put the patient at risk for the development of a new one (1). Even in those patients with early-stage disease, tumor relapse after treatment remains the major obstacle for outcomes improvement. Recent advances in whole-genome technologies have revealed an overwhelming amount of molecular data on human carcinomas, including HCC. However, spite of all of these data, HCC prognostic evaluation is based on clinicopathological parameters such as tumor stage. This reflects the complexity and heterogeneity of HCC biology, and it leads us to consider the need to find new ways to address the mechanisms involved in the progression of HCC, which can provide a prognostic evaluation and new therapeutic targets