ArticleJournal of cellular and molecular medicine2016
Alpha fetoprotein plays a critical role in promoting metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
Article in Journal of cellular and molecular medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 80 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 136 citations in OpenAlex.
- Preoperative Prediction of Microvascular Invasion in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Chinese Retrospective Multicenter Study Based on Global Meta-Analysis.Cancer medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Post-treatment alpha-fetoprotein response predicts prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: A meta-analysis.Medicine · 2019Pooled it
- Tumor burden score-AFP-albumin-bilirubin grade score predicts the survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after liver resection.Langenbeck's archives of surgery · 2023Trial
- AGLR is a novel index for the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma patients: a retrospective study.BMC surgery · 2021Trial
- ARF6 promotes the nuclear translocation of β-catenin to facilitate AFP deficiency-mediated metastasis in CTNNB1Cell biology and toxicology · 2026Article
- AFP promotes cancer multidrug resistance through activating PI3K/Akt/NF-κB signaling pathway.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Therapeutic efficacy of canagliflozin against hepatocarcinogenesis induced by CDD/DEN/TAA in a rat model: regulation of AMPK/HIF-1α/YAP-1/TAZ signaling pathways.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Article
- A prognostic score based on early recurrence-related factors for hepatocellular carcinoma patients with microvascular invasion after hepatectomy.Langenbeck's archives of surgery · 2025Article
- Alpha fetoprotein (AFP)-producing gastric cancer: clinicopathological features and treatment strategies.Cell & bioscience · 2025Review
- Exploring the Multifunctional Role of Alpha-Fetoprotein in Cancer Progression: Implications for Targeted Therapy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Beyond.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Does very high alpha-fetoprotein affect very early hepatocellular carcinoma receiving hepatectomy?Langenbeck's archives of surgery · 2025Article
- Clinicopathological features and pathogenesis of hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix: a case report.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Targeted therapy of cancer stem cells: inhibition of mTOR in pre-clinical and clinical research.Cell death & disease · 2024Review
- Alpha-fetoprotein: Past, present, and future.Hepatology communications · 2024Review
- The role of alpha-fetoprotein in the tumor microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Review
- Alpha-fetoprotein, glypican-3, and kininogen-1 as biomarkers for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.International journal of clinical and experimental pathology · 2024Review
- The role of novel adipokines in hepatocellular carcinoma progression: a mini review.American journal of cancer research · 2024Review
- Prognosis prediction of α-FAtE score for locoregional immunotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Article
20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A high level of serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP) is positively associated with human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) carcinogenesis and metastasis; however, the function of AFP in HCC metastasis is unknown. This study has explored the effects of AFP on regulating metastatic and invasive capacity of human HCC cells. Forty-seven clinical patients' liver samples were collected and diagnosed; HCC cells line, Bel 7402 cells (AFP-producing) and liver cancer cell line cells (non-AFP-producing) were selected to analyse the role of AFP in the metastasis of HCC cells. The results indicated that high serum concentration of AFP was positively correlated with HCC intrahepatic, lymph nodes and lung metastasis. Repressed expression of AFP significantly inhibited the capability of migration and invasion of Bel 7402 cells, expression of keratin 19 (K19), epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), matrix metalloproteinase 2/9 (MMP2/9) and CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) were also down-regulated in Bel 7402 cells; migration and invasion, expression of K19, EpCAM, MMP2/9 and CXCR4 were significantly enhanced when HLE cells were transfected with AFP-expressed vector. The results demonstrated that AFP plays a critical role in promoting metastasis of HCC; AFP promoted HCC cell invasion and metastasis via up-regulating expression of metastasis-related proteins. Thus, AFP may be used as a novel therapeutic target for treating HCC patients.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.