Heat Shock Protein 27 Expression Levels Are Associated with the Sensitivity of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells to Sorafenib

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common malignances worldwide. Sorafenib, a multikinase inhibitor, is the standard therapy for patients with advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma. Therefore, it is essential to develop more effective therapeutic strategies to overcome resistance and improve the efficacy of sorafenib in treating hepatocellular carcinoma patients. In this study, we demonstrate that sorafenib chemotherapy combined with gene therapy, which expressed short hairpin ribonucleic acid against heat shock protein 27, effectively overcomes the sorafenib resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and improves the anti-tumor effect of sorafenib. This combinational therapy will be a new hope for hepatocellular carcinoma patients who have sorafenib resistance, can be a better therapeutic strategy to control the malignant liver cancer. Our study provides a new therapeutic strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma that not only overcomes the resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma to sorafenib, but also utilizes cutting edge of gene therapies.