ARID2: A new tumor suppressor gene in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hong Zhao 1,5 , Jian Wang 1,5 , Yongqing Han 2,5 , Zhen Huang 1 , Jianming Ying 3 , Xinyu Bi 1 , Jianjun Zhao 1 , Yi Fang 1 , Haitao Zhou 1 , Jianguo Zhou 1 , Zhiyu Li 1 , Yefan Zhang 1 , Xue Yang 1 , Tao Yan 1 , Linfang Wang 2 , Michael S. Torbenson 4 , Jianqiang Cai 1 1 Department of abdominal surgical oncology , Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, P.R. China 2 National Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100005, P.R. China 3 Department of Pathology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, P.R. China 4 Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA 5 These authors contributed equally to this work * These authors contributed equally to the work Received: November 15, 2011; Accepted: November 16, 2011; Published: November 16, 2011; Keywords: Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Hepatitis C Virus, ARID2, Tumor Suppressor, Interferon Correspondence: Jianqiang Cai, email: // Linfang Wang, email: // Michael S. Torbenson, email: // // Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, however, genetic-environmental interactions and mechanisms associated with the development of HCC remains largely unclear. Our recent work described novel inactivating mutations of ARID2 (AT-rich interactive domain 2) in four major subtypes of HCC through exomic sequencing of ten HCV-associated HCCs and subsequent evaluation of the tumors from additional affected individuals. Here, we summarize the current knowledge about the relevance of ARID2 in HCC and the implication in future patient care.