BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) develops most often in a background of chronic inflammatory liver injury from viral infection or alcohol use. Most HCCs are diagnosed at a stage at which surgical resection is not feasible. Even in patients receiving surgery rates of recurrence and metastasis remain high. There are few effective HCC therapies and hence a need for novel, rational approaches to treatment. Platelet derived growth factor receptor-alpha (PDGFR-alpha) is involved in tumor angiogenesis and maintenance of the tumor microenvironment and has been implicated in development and metastasis of HCC. OBJECTIVE: To examine PDGFR-alpha as a target for therapy of HCC and explore opportunities and strategies for PDGFR-alpha inhibition. METHODS: A review of relevant literature. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: Targeted inhibition of PDGFR-alpha is a rational strategy for prevention and therapy of HCC.
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Oseini et al. (2009) studied this question.
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