Zhang Jin, Hu Changwei, Xie Xiaoxiao, Qi Linzhi, Li Chuanzhou, Li Shangze
School of Medicine, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
Department of Medical Genetics, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Mar 8;11(3):614. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11030614.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the main risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer, with high incidence and mortality worldwide. Surgery, liver transplantation, and ablation therapies have been used to treat early HBV-caused HCC (HBV-HCC); meanwhile, in the advanced stage, chemoradiotherapy and drug-targeted therapy are regularly considered, but with limited efficacy. Recently, immunotherapies, such as tumor vaccine therapy, adoptive cell transfer therapy, and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, have demonstrated promising efficacy in cancer treatment. In particular, immune checkpoint inhibitors can successfully prevent tumors from achieving immune escape and promote an anti-tumor response, thereby boosting the therapeutic effect in HBV-HCC. However, the advantages of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of HBV-HCC remain to be exploited. Here, we describe the basic characteristics and development of HBV-HCC and introduce current treatment strategies for HBV-HCC. Of note, we review the principles of immune checkpoint molecules, such as programmed cell death protein 1(PD-1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) in HBV-HCC, as well as related inhibitors being considered in the clinic. We also discuss the benefits of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of HBV-HCC and the efficacy of those inhibitors in HCC with various etiologies, aiming to provide insights into the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of HBV-HCC.
乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）感染是肝细胞癌（HCC）发生的主要危险因素，HCC是最常见的肝癌类型，在全球范围内发病率和死亡率都很高。手术、肝移植和消融疗法已被用于治疗早期HBV引起的HCC（HBV-HCC）；与此同时，在晚期阶段，常考虑采用放化疗和药物靶向治疗，但疗效有限。近年来，免疫疗法，如肿瘤疫苗疗法、过继性细胞转移疗法和免疫检查点抑制剂疗法，在癌症治疗中已显示出有前景的疗效。特别是，免疫检查点抑制剂能够成功地阻止肿瘤实现免疫逃逸并促进抗肿瘤反应，从而提高对HBV-HCC的治疗效果。然而，免疫检查点抑制剂在HBV-HCC治疗中的优势仍有待挖掘。在此，我们描述了HBV-HCC的基本特征和发展情况，并介绍了目前HBV-HCC的治疗策略。值得注意的是，我们回顾了免疫检查点分子，如程序性细胞死亡蛋白1（PD-1）和细胞毒性T淋巴细胞相关蛋白4（CTLA-4）在HBV-HCC中的作用机制，以及目前临床中正在研究的相关抑制剂。我们还讨论了免疫检查点抑制剂在HBV-HCC治疗中的益处以及这些抑制剂在不同病因HCC中的疗效，旨在为免疫检查点抑制剂用于HBV-HCC治疗提供参考。
