Author(s)

Yuxia Gao¹, Ligong Lu^1,2*

¹Zhuhai Clinical Medical College of Jinan University (Zhuhai People’s Hospital), Zhuhai, China.
²Guangzhou First Pepople’s Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has already become a severe health risk and brings a lot of healthcare burden to the world. Apart from traditional HCC treatment strategies (surgery, liver transplantation, etc.), the emergence of immunotherapy targeting the immune microenvironment of HCC has brought new promise to patients with advanced HCC. However, adverse effects like drug resistance still exist. The liver is the main organ for storing copper ions, in copper overload can lead to liver function impairment and even the development of HCC. In recent years, a new mode of cell death has been identified, namely cuproptosis, a mode of programmed cell death that is dependent on copper ions and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle with mitochondria. Interestingly, a potential relationship between cuproptosis and the development of HCC has been found. Conclusively, this review provides an in-depth discussion of copper homeostasis in humans, the mechanism of cuproptosis, the potential impact of cuproptosis with HCC, and the therapeutic modalities of HCC that target cuproptosis, which provide new insights to promote the development of research targeting cuproptosis in HCC.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Cuproptosis, Copper Homeostasis, Therapy

Gao, Y. and Lu, L. (2024) Advances in Cuproptosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Journal of Biosciences and Medicines, 12, 167-181. doi: 10.4236/jbm.2024.128012.