**9. Conclusion**

Aberrant angiogenenesis, MAPK pathway activation and hypoxia contribute to the aggressiveness of hepatocellular carcinoma. This property is further enhanced by the fact that these processes positively influence one another in a way that adds up to the severity of the disease. Furthermore, they all involve as key component HIF-1α (Fig. 2), so its targeting provides an attractive strategy to treat hypoxic and highly angiogenic tumours like HCC. Combination of HIF-1α inhibitors with existing treatments or new targeted therapies like sorafenib may prove to be beneficial for the treatment of the disease.
