Zhaohui Tang
Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, China
Title: Viewing cellular origin of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma from perspective of tumor heterogeneity
Biography
Biography: Zhaohui Tang
Abstract
Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is an extraordinarily heterogeneous malignant disease among the tumors that have so far been identified. The cancer cell-of-origin has important implications for tumor cell fate and cancer phenotype. Recent data suggest that multiple cellular origins of ICC including differentiated hepatocytes, intrahepatic biliary epithelial cells (IBECs)/cholangiocytes, pluripotent stem cells such as hepatic stem/progenitor cells (HPCs), biliary tree stem/progenitor cells (BTSCs), and within peribiliary glands (PBGs). Both somatic mutagenesis and epigenomic features are highly cell-type-specific, that is, multiple cellular origins may profoundly influence genomic landscapes, key signaling pathways, driving phenotypic variation and pose significant challenges to personalized medicine, drug response and patient outcome. Specifically, the cellular origin of ICC can be accurately determined based on the distribution of mutations along its genome through Roadmap Epigenomics Program. Understanding ICC heterogeneity of cellular origins and molecular mechanism may contribute to establish hierarchical model of carcinogenesis and improve anatomical-based classification. The advent of personalized medicine for ICC treatment may enable the actual origin of the cellular and molecular mechanism of ICC to be determined to improve diagnosis, therapies and prognosis.