Gene Expression Aberrations in Alcohol-Associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most prevalent primary liver cancer, ranking as the sixth most common cancer worldwide and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Most HCC cases originate from cirrhotic livers, typically due to chronic liver diseases, such as hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) infections, and alcoholism. HCC cells often harbor numerous somatic mutations that are implicated in HCC development, but epigenetic factors, such as miRNA interference, can also affect HCC initiation and progress. miRNA-221 has been explored as a factor affecting HCC development in HCC of viral etiology, but little is known about its effects on gene expression in alcohol-associated HCC. This study aimed to explore potentially similar gene expression aberrations underlying viral and alcohol-induced HCC. We analyzed available transcriptome data from non-tumor hepatocytes and viral-induced HCC tissues. The most notable differences in gene expression associated with miRNA-221 between non-tumor hepatocytes and viral-induced HCC involved