Synthetic lethality: A promising therapeutic strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the main cause of liver cancer-related death, is one of the main cancers in terms of incidence and mortality. However, HCC is difficult to target and develops strong drug resistance. Therefore, a new treatment strategy is urgently needed. The clinical application of the concept of synthetic lethality in recent years provides a new therapeutic direction for the accurate treatment of HCC. Here, we introduce the concept of synthetic lethality, the screening used to study synthetic lethality, and the identified and potential genetic interactions that induce synthetic lethality in HCC. In addition, we propose opportunities and challenges for translating synthetic lethal interactions to the clinical treatment of HCC. •Despite considerable advances in the treatment of HCC, the prognosis for HCC remains poor.•The synthetic lethal interactions are found in a variety of cancers.•Chemical screening, RNAi, CRISPR and computational approaches greatly expand the synthetic lethal libraries.•Synthetic lethality can be applied to achieve the personalized treatment of HCC.