TAK-242 can be the potential agents for preventing invasion and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma

The long-term prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unsatisfactory even after surgical resection and chemoembolization because of a high recurrence rate. However, fewer agents are currently available to block or postpone HCC progression. Recent studies show that the activation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-NF-kappaB(NF-kappa B) signaling pathway can lead to the expression of interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, IL-10, nitric oxide (NO) and tumor necrosis factor (TNE)-alpha, and promote chronic liver inflammation and malignant tumor development. A new small molecule TAK-242 (Resatorevid) can selectively inhibit TLR4-mediated signaling pathway and suppress the expression of inflammatory mediators. But the researches have not been reported whether TAK-242 can inhibit liver tumor growth and invasion. So it suggested a new hypothesis that TAK-242 selectively blocks the TLR4-NF-kappa B pathway and is hoped to be a potential and creative drug for preventing invasion and metastasis of HCC. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.