Journal
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY
Volume 16, Issue 10, Pages 972-981Publisher
NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/ncb3031
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Funding
- EC [LSHC-CT-2006-037731]
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [SFB F3518-B20, F3517, FWF-DK W1212, P25925]
- Austrian Federal Government's GEN-AU program 'Austromouse' [GZ 200.147/1-VI/1a/2006, 820966]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [30921006]
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [P 25925] Funding Source: researchfish
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [P25925, W1212] Funding Source: Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a frequent cancer with limited treatment options and poor prognosis. Tumorigenesis has been linked with macrophage-mediated chronic inflammation and diverse signalling pathways, including the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway. The precise role of EGFR in HCC is unknown, and EGFR inhibitors have shown disappointing clinical results. Here we discover that EGFR is expressed in liver macrophages in both human HCC and in a mouse HCC model. Mice lacking EGFR in macrophages show impaired hepatocarcinogenesis, whereas mice lacking EGFR in hepatocytes unexpectedly develop more HCC owing to increased hepatocyte damage and compensatory proliferation. Mechanistically, following interleukin-1 stimulation, EGFR is required in liver macrophages to transcriptionally induce interleukin-6, which triggers hepatocyte proliferation and HCC. Importantly, the presence of EGFR-positive liver macrophages in HCC patients is associated with poor survival. This study demonstrates a tumour-promoting mechanism for EGFR in non-tumour cells, which could lead to more effective precision medicine strategies.
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