Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: New Prospects for the Cancer Therapy
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. HCC patients may benefit from liver transplantation, hepatic resection, radiofrequency ablation, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, and targeted therapies. The increased infiltration of immunosuppres...
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/11/12/1355 |
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| author | Rossella Fasano Mahdi Abdoli Shadbad Oronzo Brunetti Antonella Argentiero Angela Calabrese Patrizia Nardulli Roberto Calbi Behzad Baradaran Nicola Silvestris |
| author_facet | Rossella Fasano Mahdi Abdoli Shadbad Oronzo Brunetti Antonella Argentiero Angela Calabrese Patrizia Nardulli Roberto Calbi Behzad Baradaran Nicola Silvestris |
| author_sort | Rossella Fasano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. HCC patients may benefit from liver transplantation, hepatic resection, radiofrequency ablation, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, and targeted therapies. The increased infiltration of immunosuppressive immune cells and the elevated expression of immunosuppressive factors in the HCC microenvironment are the main culprits of the immunosuppressive nature of the HCC milieu. The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment can substantially attenuate antitumoral immune responses and facilitate the immune evasion of tumoral cells. Immunotherapy is an innovative treatment method that has been promising in treating HCC. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), adoptive cell transfer (ACT), and cell-based (primarily dendritic cells) and non-cell-based vaccines are the most common immunotherapeutic approaches for HCC treatment. However, these therapeutic approaches have not generally induced robust antitumoral responses in clinical settings. To answer to this, growing evidence has characterized immune cell populations and delineated intercellular cross-talk using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies. This review aims to discuss the various types of tumor-infiltrating immune cells and highlight their roles in HCC development. Besides, we discuss the recent advances in immunotherapeutic approaches for treating HCC, e.g., ICIs, dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccines, non-cell-based vaccines, oncolytic viruses (OVs), and ACT. Finally, we discuss the potentiality of scRNA-seq to improve the response rate of HCC patients to immunotherapeutic approaches. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:43:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6d3eaac435a841a2b3390d9fd0c5099d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-1729 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:43:00Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Life |
| spelling | doaj.art-6d3eaac435a841a2b3390d9fd0c5099d2023-11-23T09:14:16ZengMDPI AGLife2075-17292021-12-011112135510.3390/life11121355Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: New Prospects for the Cancer TherapyRossella Fasano0Mahdi Abdoli Shadbad1Oronzo Brunetti2Antonella Argentiero3Angela Calabrese4Patrizia Nardulli5Roberto Calbi6Behzad Baradaran7Nicola Silvestris8Medical Oncology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Tumori “Giovanni Paolo II”, 70124 Bari, ItalyStudent Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 5165665811, IranMedical Oncology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Tumori “Giovanni Paolo II”, 70124 Bari, ItalyMedical Oncology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Tumori “Giovanni Paolo II”, 70124 Bari, ItalyRadiology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Tumori “Giovanni Paolo II”, 70124 Bari, ItalyPharmacy Unit, IRCCS Istituto Tumori “Giovanni Paolo II”, 70124 Bari, ItalyOperative Unit of Radiology, Hospital Miulli, 70021 Acquaviva Delle Fonti, ItalyImmunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 5165665811, IranMedical Oncology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Tumori “Giovanni Paolo II”, 70124 Bari, ItalyHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. HCC patients may benefit from liver transplantation, hepatic resection, radiofrequency ablation, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, and targeted therapies. The increased infiltration of immunosuppressive immune cells and the elevated expression of immunosuppressive factors in the HCC microenvironment are the main culprits of the immunosuppressive nature of the HCC milieu. The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment can substantially attenuate antitumoral immune responses and facilitate the immune evasion of tumoral cells. Immunotherapy is an innovative treatment method that has been promising in treating HCC. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), adoptive cell transfer (ACT), and cell-based (primarily dendritic cells) and non-cell-based vaccines are the most common immunotherapeutic approaches for HCC treatment. However, these therapeutic approaches have not generally induced robust antitumoral responses in clinical settings. To answer to this, growing evidence has characterized immune cell populations and delineated intercellular cross-talk using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies. This review aims to discuss the various types of tumor-infiltrating immune cells and highlight their roles in HCC development. Besides, we discuss the recent advances in immunotherapeutic approaches for treating HCC, e.g., ICIs, dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccines, non-cell-based vaccines, oncolytic viruses (OVs), and ACT. Finally, we discuss the potentiality of scRNA-seq to improve the response rate of HCC patients to immunotherapeutic approaches.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/11/12/1355hepatocellular carcinomatumor microenvironmentimmune cellsimmunotherapysingle-cell sequencing |
| spellingShingle | Rossella Fasano Mahdi Abdoli Shadbad Oronzo Brunetti Antonella Argentiero Angela Calabrese Patrizia Nardulli Roberto Calbi Behzad Baradaran Nicola Silvestris Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: New Prospects for the Cancer Therapy Life hepatocellular carcinoma tumor microenvironment immune cells immunotherapy single-cell sequencing |
| title | Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: New Prospects for the Cancer Therapy |
| title_full | Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: New Prospects for the Cancer Therapy |
| title_fullStr | Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: New Prospects for the Cancer Therapy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: New Prospects for the Cancer Therapy |
| title_short | Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: New Prospects for the Cancer Therapy |
| title_sort | immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma new prospects for the cancer therapy |
| topic | hepatocellular carcinoma tumor microenvironment immune cells immunotherapy single-cell sequencing |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/11/12/1355 |
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