Commentary
NAFLD and hepatocellular carcinoma are strongly associated with obesity, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome and directly attributed to changes in lifestyle, especially dietary patterns and sedentary behaviour. Western diet and cholesterol contained in the diet exacerbate hepatic accumulation of free cholesterol, resulting in the toxic effects on the liver.
In their review, JY Kim et al. (University of California San Diego, USA) discuss the metabolic processes that control the progression from NAFLD to NASH and from NASH to HCC. They note the importance of focusing on lifestyle modifications for HCC prevention, of developing better mouse models to reflect the human NASH and HCC signatures, and of understanding the molecular mechanisms of disease pathogenesis.
