RNA-seq analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Dysregulation of genes and associated mRNAs plays critical roles in the etiology and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Previous transcriptomic studies of HCC have been largely focused on Asian populations based on microarray platforms. Next generation-based RNA sequencing has provided an unparalleled power and opportunities to comprehensively characterize HCC at the whole transcriptome level. Overall design: Seventeen fresh frozen HCC samples with paired non-neoplastic liver from Caucasian patients undergoing liver resection or transplant were used for RNA-seq analysis. Pair-wise differential expression analysis was performed on the RNA-seq data to identify genes, pathways and functional terms differentially regulated in HCC vs. non-neoplastic tissues.