Zhang CY, Liu S, Yang M. Regulatory T cells and their associated factors in hepatocellular carcinoma development and therapy. World J Gastroenterol 2022; 28(27): 3346-3358 [PMID: 36158267 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i27.3346]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ming Yang, DVM, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, Room 2203, NexGen Precision Building, 1030 Hitt Street, Columbia, MO 65211, United States. yangmin@health.missouri.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
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. Jul 21, 2022; 28(27): 3346-3358 Published online Jul 21, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i27.3346
Regulatory T cells and their associated factors in hepatocellular carcinoma development and therapy
Chun-Ye Zhang, Shuai Liu, Ming Yang
Chun-Ye Zhang, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, United States
Shuai Liu, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang Province, China
Ming Yang, Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, United States
Author contributions: Zhang CY, Liu S, and Yang M designed and collected data, wrote, revised, and finalized the manuscript; all authors contributed equally, and shared the first authorship.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to report.
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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ming Yang, DVM, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, Room 2203, NexGen Precision Building, 1030 Hitt Street, Columbia, MO 65211, United States. yangmin@health.missouri.edu
Received: January 3, 2022 Peer-review started: January 3, 2022 First decision: January 23, 2022 Revised: January 27, 2022 Accepted: June 23, 2022 Article in press: June 23, 2022 Published online: July 21, 2022 Processing time: 195 Days and 10.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the primary type of liver cancer. Factors, including carcinogenic infection of hepatitis viruses, alcohol abuse, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), can induce HCC initiation and promote HCC progression. The prevalence of NAFLD accompanying the increased incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes becomes the most increasing factor causing HCC worldwide. However, the benefit of current therapeutic options is still limited. Intrahepatic immunity plays critically important roles in HCC initiation, development, and progression. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) and their associated factors such as metabolites and secreting cytokines mediate the immune tolerance of the tumor microenvironment in HCC. Therefore, targeting Tregs and blocking their mediated factors may prevent HCC progression. A better understanding of the role of Tregs in intrahepatic immunity is helpful to develop novel HCC treatment options.
