Management and Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Immunotherapy: A Review of Current and Future Options
Open Access
- 10 June 2020
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Xia & He Publishing in Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology
- Vol. 8 (2), 168-176
- https://doi.org/10.14218/jcth.2020.00001
Abstract
With mortality rates of liver cancer doubling in the last 20 years, this disease is on the rise and has become the fifth most common cancer in men and the seventh most common cancer in women. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents approximately 90% of all primary liver cancers and is a major global health concern. Patients with HCC can be managed curatively with surgical resection or with liver transplantation, if they are diagnosed at an early stage. Unfortunately, most patients with HCC present with advanced stages of the disease and have underlying liver dysfunction, which allows only 15% of patients to be eligible for curative treatment. Several different treatment modalities are available, including locoregional therapy radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, percutaneous ethanol injection, trans-arterial chemoembolization, transarterial radio-embolization, cryoablation, radiation therapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, systemic chemotherapy, molecularly targeted therapies, and immunotherapy. Immunotherapy has recently become a promising method for inhibiting HCC tumor progression, recurrence, and metastasis. The term “Immunotherapy” is a catch-all, encompassing a wide range of applications and targets, including HCC vaccines, adoptive cell therapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and use of oncolytic viruses to treat HCC. Immunotherapy in HCC is a relatively safe option for treating patients with advanced disease in the USA who are either unable to receive or failed sorafenib/lenvatinib therapy and thus may offer an additional survival benefit for these patients. The purpose of this review is to elaborate on some of the most recent advancements in immunotherapy.Keywords
This publication has 76 references indexed in Scilit:
- PD-1 blockade induces responses by inhibiting adaptive immune resistanceNature, 2014
- Treatment of human hepatocellular carcinoma by the oncolytic herpes simplex virus G47deltaCancer Cell International, 2014
- Oncolytic immunotherapy using recombinant vaccinia virus GLV-1h68 kills sorafenib-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma efficientlySurgery, 2014
- A clinical trial of CTLA-4 blockade with tremelimumab in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and chronic hepatitis CJournal of Hepatology, 2013
- Comparison of resection and ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma: A cohort study based on a Japanese nationwide surveyJournal of Hepatology, 2012
- New agents on the horizon in hepatocellular carcinomaTherapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology, 2012
- Cancer Immunoediting: Integrating Immunity’s Roles in Cancer Suppression and PromotionScience, 2011
- Combination therapy of intraarterial 5‐fluorouracil and systemic interferon‐alpha for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with portal venous invasionCancer, 2006
- Involvement of PD-L1 on tumor cells in the escape from host immune system and tumor immunotherapy by PD-L1 blockadeProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2002
- Recombinant interferon-α in inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma: A randomized controlled trialJournal of Hepatology, 1993