Emergence of immunotherapy as a novel way to treat hepatocellular carcinoma

Figure 3 Strategies of immune therapy. Immune therapy can be classified to two types, promotion of immune effector cell function and reversal of depressed anti-tumor immunity. Immune effector cell function can be enhanced by peptide vaccine, DC-based vaccine, and adoptive transfer of effector cells including tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), T cell receptor (TCR)-modified T cells, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, NKT cells, and cytokine-activated killer cells (CIKs). Depressed anti-tumor immunity can be reversed by the blockade of immune checkpoint pathways and immune suppressor cells including regulatory T cells (Tregs) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs).