Malignant liver cancer is characterized by rapid tumour progression and a high mortality rate, whereas the molecular mechanisms underlying liver cancer initiation and progression are still poorly understood. The dynamic and reversible RNA modifications have crucial functions in gene expression regulation by modulating RNA processing and mRNA translation. Emerging evidence has revealed that alterations in RNA modifications facilitate the selective translation of oncogenic transcripts and promote the diverse tumorigenic processes of liver cancer. In this Review, we first highlight the current progress on the functions and mechanisms underlying RNA modifications in the regulation of mRNA translation and then summarize the exciting discoveries on aberrant RNA modification-mediated mRNA translation in the regulation of tumour initiation, metastasis, metabolism, tumour microenvironment, and drug and radiotherapy resistance in liver cancer. Finally, we discuss the diagnostic and therapeutic potentials of targeting RNA modifications and mRNA translation for the clinical management of liver cancer.

恶性肝癌的特点是肿瘤进展快、死亡率高，而肝癌发生和进展的分子机制仍知之甚少。动态和可逆的 RNA 修饰通过调节 RNA 加工和 mRNA 翻译，在基因表达调控中发挥着至关重要的作用。新的证据表明，RNA 修饰的改变促进致癌转录物的选择性翻译，并促进肝癌的多种致瘤过程。在这篇综述中，我们首先重点介绍了RNA修饰在调节mRNA翻译中的功能和机制的最新进展，然后总结了异常RNA修饰介导的mRNA翻译在肿瘤发生、转移、代谢、肿瘤的调节中的令人兴奋的发现。肝癌的微环境、药物和放疗耐药性。最后，我们讨论了靶向 RNA 修饰和 mRNA 翻译在肝癌临床管理中的诊断和治疗潜力。