Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Apr 15, 2024; 16(4): 1097-1103
Published online Apr 15, 2024. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v16.i4.1097
Hepatitis B virus genotypes in precision medicine of hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma: Where we are now
Caecilia H C Sukowati, Sri Jayanti, Turyadi Turyadi, David H Muljono, Claudio Tiribelli
Caecilia H C Sukowati, Sri Jayanti, Turyadi Turyadi, Eijkman Research Center for Molecular Biology, Research Organization for Health, National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia, Jakarta 10340, Indonesia
Caecilia H C Sukowati, Claudio Tiribelli, Liver Cancer Unit, Fondazione Italiana Fegato ONLUS, Trieste 34149, Italy
David H Muljono, Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University, Makassar 90245, South Sulawesi, Indonesia
David H Muljono, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney 2050, Australia
Author contributions: Sukowati CHC, Jayanti S, Turyadi T, Muljono DH, and Tiribelli C contributed to this paper; Sukowati CHC designed the overall concept and outline of the manuscript; Sukowati C, Jayanti S, and Turyadi T contributed to the writing, editing the manuscript, and review of literature; Sukowati CHC, Muljono DH, and Tiribelli C contributed to the discussion and the editing of the manuscript.
Supported by Rumah Program 2024 of Research Organization for Health, National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia; 2023 Grant of The Fondazione Veronesi, Milan, Italy (Caecilia H C Sukowati); and 2023/2024 Postdoctoral Fellowship of The Manajemen Talenta, Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional, Indonesia (Sri Jayanti).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict-of-interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Caecilia H C Sukowati, PhD, Senior Scientist, Liver Cancer Unit, Fondazione Italiana Fegato ONLUS, AREA Science Park Campus Basovizza, SS14, km 163.5, Trieste 34149, Italy. caecilia.sukowati@fegato.it
Received: January 4, 2024
Peer-review started: January 4, 2024
First decision: January 17, 2024
Revised: January 30, 2024
Accepted: March 6, 2024
Article in press: March 6, 2024
Published online: April 15, 2024
Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major player in chronic hepatitis B that may lead to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HBV genetics are diverse where it is classified into at least 9 genotypes (A to I) and 1 putative genotype (J), each with specific geographical distribution and possible different clinical outcomes in the patient. This diversity may be associated with the precision medicine for HBV-related HCC and the success of therapeutical approaches against HCC, related to different pathogenicity of the virus and host response. This Editorial discusses recent updates on whether the classification of HBV genetic diversity is still valid in terms of viral oncogenicity to the HCC and its precision medicine, in addition to the recent advances in cellular and molecular biology technologies.

Keywords: Hepatitis B virus, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Genotypes, Pathogenesis, Precision medicine

Core Tip: This article discusses recent updates on the classification of hepatitis B virus (HBV) based on its genetic diversity (genotype) and its relationship with current data in HBV pathogenicity, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and HCC treatment.