Smad7 and TGF-β signaling – a double edged sword in liver tumorigenesis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and deadliest cancers worldwide. TGF-β is a driver of chronic liver disease progression, which eventually ends in HCC. TGF-β, a tumor suppressor in cancer development, exerts tumor supporting characteristics during cancer progression. However, TGF-β signaling related mutations regularly occurring in different cancers are comparably rare in HCC. Here we analyze the input of TGF-β signaling inhibitor Smad7 in HCC. Real Time Analysis of an up to now limited number of 30 matched human HCC/peritumor samples showed overexpression of Smad7 in 80% of the HCC sampl…