Hepatocellular Expression of SIRT1 and Its Effect on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression: A Future Therapeutic Perspective

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive primary hepatic malignancy with a significant morbidity and mortality rate. Although chemotherapy along with surgical incision is believed to be an effective therapeutic approach, to date recurrence is being lifted a major concern. Thus, identifying another best therapeutic approach is becoming the main aim of physicians and scholars. In support of this, recently, several studies reported a significant observation of Sirtuin1 (SIRT1) overexpression in the malignant tumor cells, including HCC. As a result, they believed that overexpression of SIRT1 may have an effect on the progression of HCC by targeting growth and/or apoptotic controlling transcriptional factors/signaling pathways. Similarly, other reports confirmed that SIRT1 inhibition had a direct or indirect role in the control of tumor cell growth and metastasis. Therefore, inhibiting the expression and activity of SIRT1 might have a therapeutic effect to handle HCC. However, there are a limited number of reviews regarding the issue, and here, we summarized hepatocellular expression of SIRT1 and its role on HCC progression.