Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37253536›Full record

ArticleJournal of clinical pathology2024

Tumour stemness and poor clinical outcomes in haemochromatosis patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Daniel M Di Capua, William Shanahan, Michele Bourke, Navneet Ramlaul, Josh Appel, Aoife Canney, Neil G Docherty, Erinn McGrath, Eabha Ring, Fiona Jones and 8 more

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of clinical pathology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Diagnosis and Treatment of HFEAdvances in experimental medicine and biology · 2025
    Review
  3. Review
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Daniel M Di Capua *HIstopathology, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
William Shanahan *Liver Unit, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6146-2928
Michele Bourke *Liver Unit, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1538-0865
Navneet RamlaulLiver Unit, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Josh AppelLiver Unit, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Aoife CanneyHistopathology, University Hospital Galway, Galway, Ireland.
Neil G DochertyUniversity College Dublin School of Medicine, Dublin, Ireland.
Erinn McGrathHIstopathology, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Eabha RingLiver Unit, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Fiona JonesLiver Unit, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Marie BoyleLiver Unit, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Janet McCormackReseach Pathology Core, Conway Institute, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Tom GallagherUniversity College Dublin School of Medicine, Dublin, Ireland.
Emir HotiUniversity College Dublin School of Medicine, Dublin, Ireland.
Niamh NolanHIstopathology, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
John D RyanHepatology Unit, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, ireland.
Diarmaid D Houlihan *HIstopathology, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Aurelie Fabre *HIstopathology, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland a.fabre@svuh.ie.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8176-1386
St. Vincent's University Hospital · IEUniversity College Dublin · IEBeaumont Hospital · IEUniversity Hospital Galway · IE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsPatients with haemochromatosis (HFE) are known to have an increased risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Available data are conflicting on whether such patients have poorer prognosis, and there is lack of data regarding the biology of HFE-HCC. We compared the course of HFE-HCC with a matched non-HFE-HCC control group and examined tumour characteristics using immunohistochemistry.

methodsIn this tertiary care-based retrospective analysis, 12 patients with HFE and 34 patients with alcohol/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis who underwent initially successful curative HCC therapy with ablation or resection were identified from our registry. Time to tumour progression was compared. Resected liver tissue from a separate cohort of 11 matched patients with HFE-HCC and without HFE-HCC was assessed for the expression of progenitor and epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers using immunohistochemistry.

resultsThe median follow-up was 24.39 and 24.28 months for patients with HFE-HCC and those without HFE-HCC, respectively (p>0.05). The mean time to progression was shorter in the HFE group compared with the non-HFE group (12.87 months vs 17.78 months; HR 3.322, p<0.05). Patients with HFE-HCC also progressed to more advanced disease by the end of follow-up (p<0.05). Immunohistochemical analysis of matched HFE-HCC and non-HFE-HCC explants demonstrated increased expression of the cancer stem cell markers EpCAM (epithelial cell adhesion molecule) and EpCAM/SALL4 (spalt-like transcription factor 4) coexpression in HFE-HCC specimens (p<0.05). There was a high frequency of combined tumour subtypes within the HFE cohort.

conclusionsThis study demonstrates that the clinical course of patients with HFE-HCC is more aggressive and provides the first data indicating that their tumours have increased expression of progenitor markers. These findings suggest patients with HFE-HCC may need to be considered for transplant at an earlier stage.

Indexed as

Biomarkers, TumorCarcinoma, HepatocellularHemochromatosisLiver NeoplasmsNeoplastic Stem CellsAdultAgedDisease ProgressionEpithelial-Mesenchymal TransitionFemaleHemochromatosis ProteinHumansImmunohistochemistryMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisBiomarkers, TumorHemochromatosis Proteincancer stem cellsironliver

Identifiers

PMID37253536
PMCPMC11503110
OpenAlexW4378781088

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 Socratic graph.