Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Current Limits and Prospects

Cheng Zhong; Yirun Li; Jing Yang; Shengxi Jin; Guoqiao Chen; Duguang Li; Xiaoxiao Fan; Hui Lin

doi:10.3389/fonc.2021.589680

Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Current Limits and Prospects

Front Oncol. 2021 Mar 29:11:589680. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.589680. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Cheng Zhong^{1

2}, Yirun Li^{1

2}, Jing Yang^{1

2}, Shengxi Jin^{1

2}, Guoqiao Chen^{1

2}, Duguang Li^{1

2}, Xiaoxiao Fan^{1

2

3}, Hui Lin^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
² Biomedical Research Center, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentations, Centre for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, College of Optical Science and Engineering, International Research Center for Advanced Photonics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Although many approaches have been used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the clinical benefits remain limited, particularly for late stage HCC. In recent years, studies have focused on immunotherapy for HCC. Immunotherapies have shown promising clinical outcomes in several types of cancers and potential therapeutic effects for advanced HCC. In this review, we summarize the immune tolerance and immunotherapeutic strategies for HCC as well as the main challenges of current therapeutic approaches. We also present alternative strategies for overcoming these limitations.

Keywords: epigenetic modification; hepatocellular carcinoma; immune tolerance; immunotherapy; tertiary lymphoid structure; tumor microenvironment; tumor mutational burden.

Publication types

Review