Radiofrequency combined with immunomodulation for hepatocellular carcinoma: State of the art and innovations

Table 1 Radiofrequency ablation and immunotherapy combined in hepatocellular carcinoma

Ref.	Tumor	Intervention	Results	Level of evidence
Cui et al[12], 2014	HCC from 2 to 8 cm	RFA with cellular immunotherapy	Avoid HCC recurrence	III
Tu et al[13], 2015	Middle-advanced HCC	RFA and monoclonal antibody (131I-chTNT)	Increased circulating white blood cells; Increased overall survival; Improved progress-free survival	IV
Behm et al[33], 2016	VX2 rabbit HCC	RFA and CpG B	Increased antitumor T cell response; prevented tumor spread; Improved survival	II
Ma et al[34], 2010	HCC < 4 cm	RFA and autologous RAK cells	Increased intratumoral percentage of CD3+ CD8+ cells; avoided HCC recurrence	IV
Nakagawa et al[35], 2014	C57B1/6 mice	RFA and OK-432 stimulated DCs	Decreased tumor volume; increased intratumoral CD8+ T cells	IV
Sodergren et al[36], 2019	BALB/c mice	RFA, checkpoint blockade and MTL-CEBPA	Increase in CD8+ and CD49b+/CD45+ immune tumor response; abscopal effect	III
Bian et al[37], 2014	Tumors < 3 cm vs > 3 cm	RFA and 131I metuximab	Prevention of tumor recurrence	II

HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; RFA: Radiofrequency ablation; RAK: RetroNectin activated killer.