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Yao et al. Hepatoma Res 2018;4:30 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-5079.2018.32 Page 7 of 10

PERSPECTIVES
In conclusion, molecular factors are involved in the process of HCC development and metastasis. HBx
could integrate into human genome and this transcript could activate Wnt signaling as a long noncoding
RNA . The associations between Wnt signaling and cancer initiation, tumor growth, metastasis, dormancy,
[84]
immunity and tumor stem cell maintenance have been revealed, and Wnt signaling has exhibited numerous
genetic abnormalities [85,86] as well as epigenetic alterations including modulation of DNA methylation. The
overexpression of Wnt3a in cancerous tissues has been discovered, and its higher level was only found in
sera of HCC patients from a cohort study in chronic liver diseases, although it is the first time to report as
a novel specific marker for HCC diagnosis and prognosis. Further studies will permit us to analyze Wnt3a
role in hepatocarcinogenesis and explore its molecular-targeted for HCC therapy [87,88] .

DECLARATIONS
Authors’ contributions
Conception and literature search: Yao M, Zheng WJ
Drafting the manuscript: Yao M, Fang M
Critical revision for intellectual content: Yao DF

Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.

Financial support and sponsorship
This work was supported by the grants from the Projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China
(81673241, 81702419), Jiangsu Medical Programs (KYCX17_ 1934, BE2016698), and Int. S&T Cooperation
Program (2013DFA32150) of China.

Conflicts of interest
All authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.

Consent for publication
Not applicable.

Copyright
© The Author(s) 2018.

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