Exosomes as potential diagnosis and treatment for liver cancer

Table 3 Potential therapeutic targets

Exosomal content	Sample	Expression	Content identification	Animal model (Yes/No)	Function	Ref.
HCC
Proteins
ENO1	Cancer cells-exosomes, tissue (n = 94)	Up	IHC staining	Y	Promotes HCC growth, metastasis, and further patient deterioration	[57]
miRNAs
miR-125a/b	TAMs-exosomes Tissue (n = 6)	Down	qRT-PCR	N	A possible therapeutic target in HCC	[58]
miR-150-3p	Fibroblasts-exosomes, tissues (n = 82)	Down	qRT–PCR	N	Abrogate HCC migration and invasiveness	[59]
miR-32-5p	Bel/5-FU-exosomes, tissue (n = 72)	Up	qRT–PCR	Y	Induce multidrug resistance in HCC	[60]
miR-320a	Cancer cells-exosomes, tissue (n = 6)	Down	qRT–PCR	Y	Mediates HCC tumor progression	[61]
miR-3682-3p	Cancer cells-exosomes, tissue (n = 8)	Down	qRT–PCR	Y	Attenuate angiogenesis and provides novel potential targets for liver cancer therapy	[62]
miR-378b	Cancer cells-exosomes, tissue (n = 105)	Up	qRT–PCR	Y	Enhance HCC cell progression and angiogenesis	[63]
lncRNAs
ASMTL-AS1	Cancer cells-exosomes, tissues (n = 70)	Up	qRT–PCR	Y	Aggravate the malignancy in residual HCC	[64]
PCED1B-AS1	Cancer cells-exosomes, tissues (n = 45)	Up	qRT–PCR	Y	Induce immunosuppression in HCC	[65]
circRNAs
circRNA Cdr1as	Cancer cells-exosomes, tissues (n = 42)	Up	qRT–PCR	Y	Promote the progression of HCC by sponging miR-1270 to upregulate AFP level	[66]

IHC: Immunohistochemistry; TAMs: Tumor-associated macrophages; Up: Upregulated; Down: Downregulated; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; HB: Hepatoblastoma; qRT-PCR: Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.