Smad3 and its phosphoisoforms are prognostic predictors of hepatocellular carcinoma after curative hepatectomy

Progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) often leads to vascular invasion and intrahepatic metastasis, which correlate with recurrence after surgical treatment and poor prognosis. HCC may be an unusual cancer affected by continuous inflammation that can lead to consistent upregulation of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). Chronic inflammation shifts hepatocytic TGF-β signaling from the tumor-suppressive pSmad3C pathway to the oncogenic pSmad3L pathway. In this study, we investigated the functional roles of Smad3 and its phosphoisoforms in the progression of HCC.