Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide and is characterized as a typical inflammation-related carcinoma. High mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1), a non-histone DNA-binding protein, is identified as a potent proinflammatory mediator when presents extracellularly. Recently, a growing body of evidence indicates that HMGB1 plays a potential role in HCC, but many questions remain unanswered about the relationship between HMGB1 and HCC formation and development. This review focuses on the biological effect of HMGB1, and discusses the association of HMGB1 with HCC and potential use of strategies targeting HMGB1 in HCC treatment.
Keywords: biological effect; chronic hepatitis; hepatocellular carcinoma; high mobility group box protein 1; tumor microenvironment.