Fig. 2: Schematic diagram of liver cancer progression and associated N-glycan type changes.
From: The role of N-glycosylation modification in the pathogenesis of liver cancer
Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) is the most widely used clinical liver cancer staging system, which divides liver cancer into three stages, early (0/A), intermediate (B), and advanced (C/D), mainly based on the patient’s tumor status and liver function. N-glycan chains can participate in cell recognition, signal transduction, immune responses, and other life activities. Compared with normal cells, tumor cells, such as HCC cells, often exhibit abnormal changes in N-glycan conformation, such as abnormal branching chains and bisecting structures and altered levels of fucosylation and sialylation.
