Development of a Neuronal Microscope

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer and is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The prognosis of HCC remains poor, with a 5-year survival rate of 18%. Risk factors for HCC include viral infection, autoimmune hepatitis, chronic alcohol use or metabolic fatty liver disease, obesity, and diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, alterations and chronic inflammation of the microenvironment can facilitate the transformation of normal liver stem cells into precancerous tumor stem cells. All these underlying pathogenic stimuli can induce a spectrum of genetic and epigenetic modifications, which are involved in the cell cycle, cell growth and regulation of adhesion. Therefore, heterogeneity and tumor priming potential arise from a combination of both endogenous and exogenous factors. However, current in vitro models, based on conventional hepatoma and hepatocarcinoma cell lines, fail to recapitulate key characteristics of tumor tissue such as three-dimensional tissue architecture, cellular heterogeneity, and cell-cell interactions. Organoids, which are 3D cellular structures generated from induced pluripotent stem cells and adult tissue-resident stem cells, have recently been exploited to overcome the limitations of 2D cell culture systems, emerging as powerful tools for studying human diseases. Therefore, organoid structures stably preserve the genetic information of autologous tissue by mimicking the pathological state of the tissue itself.

Inclusion criteria

Patients aged >18 years:

• undergoing surgical cholecystectomy, liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (both intra-tumoral and extra-tumoral tissues) or whole liver explants;
• who have given consent to participate in the study.

Exclusion criteria

• positivity for chronic viral hepatitis (HCV-RNA and HBsAg).