Lee BM, Seong J. Radiotherapy as an immune checkpoint blockade combination strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma. World J Gastroenterol 2021; 27(10): 919-927 [PMID: 33776363 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i10.919]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Jinsil Seong, MD, Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei Cancer Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, South Korea. jsseong@yuhs.ac
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
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. Mar 14, 2021; 27(10): 919-927 Published online Mar 14, 2021. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i10.919
Radiotherapy as an immune checkpoint blockade combination strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma
Byung Min Lee, Jinsil Seong
Byung Min Lee, Jinsil Seong, Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei Cancer Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, South Korea
Author contributions: Lee BM prepared the manuscript; Seong J conceptualized the manuscript, reviewed the manuscript
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: Jinsil Seong, MD, Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei Cancer Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, South Korea. jsseong@yuhs.ac
Received: January 5, 2021 Peer-review started: January 5, 2021 First decision: January 17, 2021 Revised: January 29, 2021 Accepted: February 28, 2021 Article in press: February 28, 2021 Published online: March 14, 2021 Processing time: 65 Days and 0.2 Hours
Abstract
In the immune oncology era, the clinical efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) against most solid cancers is well known. In hepatocellular carcinoma, the recent success of combination therapy with targeting agents has accelerated the search for novel combination strategies. Radiotherapy (RT), an attractive modality, can be combined with ICIs, which act as strong modulators of the tumor immune microenvironment. Herein, we discuss immune modulation caused by radiation and the current trials of RT–ICI combination treatment as well as future perspectives.
Core Tip: Immune modulatory effect of radiation is highlighted as a combination strategy with immune checkpoint inhibitors. This strategy has been actively adopted in most solid cancers. Although it is in relatively early stage for hepatocellular carcinoma, accumulated evidence drives clinical trials on testing its efficacy. Still, there remain several challenges to overcome for the best oncologic outcome.
