Regulatory T cells and their associated factors in hepatocellular carcinoma development and therapy

Figure 1 The imbalance of regulatory T cells and effector T cells promotes the progression of chronic liver diseases and hepatocellular carcinoma. Chronic liver diseases such as alcoholic liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease induced by factors such as alcohol abuse and high-fat diet, respectively, can induce liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma. The imbalance of regulatory T cells with T helper 17 cells or CD8 T cells is involved in the pathogenesis of liver inflammation, fibrosis, and cancer progression. ALD: Alcoholic liver disease; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; NAFLD: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Treg: Regulatory T cells; Th: T helper.