Metabolomic applications in hepatocellular carcinoma: toward the exploration of therapeutics and diagnosis through small molecules

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a complex public health issue that is the most common primary hepatic malignancy, remains the highest incidence in developing countries and is showing sustained growth across the developed world. HCC is asymptomatic in nature; in the clinic, the low sensitivity of tumor detection is insufficient to characterize its category, risk prediction, or morbidity progression and to direct reasonable preventive measures. Therefore, HCC is usually diagnosed at a terminal cancer stage, and interventions are not effective in time to help patients. Thus, early diagnosis before onset and better comprehension of underlying mechanisms in HCC for molecular targets are urgently needed. Currently, the emerging field of metabolomics, involving high-throughput identification and measurement of metabolites in biological fluids, is a powerful method for appraising disease mechanisms and for biomarker discovery by elucidating the framework of the general dissection of HCC. In this article, we first provided the latest understanding of HCC on risk factors, diagnosis and treatment, and then highlighted a summary of metabolomics research, which is a vital field in HCC. We also discuss the current state of HCC biomarkers and future challenges in the digital and information era of medicine.