Jiang Y, Han QJ, Zhang J. Hepatocellular carcinoma: Mechanisms of progression and immunotherapy. World J Gastroenterol 2019; 25(25): 3151-3167 [PMID: 31333308 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i25.3151]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Jian Zhang, PhD, Professor, Institute of Immunopharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, 44 West Wenhua Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong Province, China. zhangj65@sdu.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 7, 2019; 25(25): 3151-3167 Published online Jul 7, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i25.3151
Hepatocellular carcinoma: Mechanisms of progression and immunotherapy
Yu Jiang, Qiu-Ju Han, Jian Zhang
Yu Jiang, Qiu-Ju Han, Jian Zhang, Institute of Immunopharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, Shandong Province, China
Author contributions: Jiang Y and Zhang J designed the structure of this review; Jiang Y contributed literature review, designed illustrations and tables and wrote the manuscript; Jiang Y, Han QJ and Zhang J revised the paper; All authors approved the final version.
Supported bythe Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81172789, 30972692 and 81373222; National Basic Research Program of China 973 Program, No. 2013CB531503; and National Mega Project on Major Infectious Diseases Prevention and Treatment, No. 2012ZX10002006.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jian Zhang, PhD, Professor, Institute of Immunopharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, 44 West Wenhua Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong Province, China. zhangj65@sdu.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-531-88383781 Fax: +86-531-88383782
Received: March 6, 2019 Peer-review started: March 6, 2019 First decision: April 4, 2019 Revised: April 28, 2019 Accepted: May 18, 2019 Article in press: May 18, 2019 Published online: July 7, 2019 Processing time: 123 Days and 17.8 Hours
Abstract
Liver cancer is one of the most common malignancies, and various pathogenic factors can lead to its occurrence and development. Among all primary liver cancers, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common. With extensive studies, an increasing number of molecular mechanisms that promote HCC are being discovered. Surgical resection is still the most effective treatment for patients with early HCC. However, early detection and treatment are difficult for most HCC patients, and the postoperative recurrence rate is high, resulting in poor clinical prognosis of HCC. Although immunotherapy takes longer than conventional chemotherapy to produce therapeutic effects, it persists for longer. In recent years, the emergence of many new immunotherapies, such as immune checkpoint blockade and chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapies, has given new hope for the treatment of HCC.
Core tip: Among all primary liver cancers, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common and accounts for 90% of cases. Mechanisms related to HCC progression and treatment strategies have been extensively reported. In this paper, we review the molecular mechanisms involved in HCC progression and the latest advancements in immunotherapy by combining the research progress and results from our laboratory in recent years.
