Wan H, Zhang YX, Shan GY, Cheng JY, Qiao DR, Liu YY, Shi WN, Li HJ. Antiviral therapy for hepatitis B virus infection is beneficial for the prognosis hepatocellular carcinoma. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2025; 17(1): 93983 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i1.93983]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Hai-Jun Li, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Institute of Liver Diseases, Institute of Translational Medicine, The First Hospital of Jilin University, No. 71 Xinmin Street, Changchun 130061, Jilin Province, China. hjli2012@jlu.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
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/
Hui Wan, Yu-Xin Zhang, Guan-Yue Shan, Jun-Ya Cheng, Duan-Rui Qiao, Yi-Ying Liu, Wen-Na Shi, Institute of Translational Medicine, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130061, Jilin Province, China
Jun-Ya Cheng, Duan-Rui Qiao, Yi-Ying Liu, Wen-Na Shi, Department of Bioengineering, Pharmacy School of Jilin University, Changchun 130061, Jilin Province, China
Hai-Jun Li, Institute of Liver Diseases, Institute of Translational Medicine, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130061, Jilin Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang YX, Shan GY, Qian DR, and Shi WN collected the information; Cheng JY and Liu YY drew and modified the illustrations; Wan H wrote the paper; Li HJ revised the paper.
Supported bythe Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81970529; the Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province, No. 20230508074RC and No. YDZJ202401218ZYTS.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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: Hai-Jun Li, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Institute of Liver Diseases, Institute of Translational Medicine, The First Hospital of Jilin University, No. 71 Xinmin Street, Changchun 130061, Jilin Province, China. hjli2012@jlu.edu.cn
Received: March 9, 2024 Revised: September 20, 2024 Accepted: September 29, 2024 Published online: January 15, 2025 Processing time: 278 Days and 4.9 Hours
Abstract
In this editorial, we comment on the article by Mu et al, published in the recent issue of the World Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology. We pay special attention to the immune tolerance mechanism caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the role of antiviral therapy in treating HCC related to HBV infection. HBV infection leads to systemic innate immune tolerance by directly inhibiting pattern recognition receptor recognition and antiviral signaling pathways, as well as by inhibiting the immune functions of macrophages, natural killer cells and dendritic cells. In addition, HBV leads to an immunosuppressive cascade by expressing inhibitory molecules to induce exhaustion of HBV-specific cluster of differentiation 8 + T cells, ultimately leading to long-term viral infection. The loss of immune cell function caused by HBV infection ultimately leads to HCC. Long-term antiviral therapy can improve the prognosis of patients with HCC and prevent tumor recurrence and metastasis.
Core Tip: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the seventh most common cancer in the world and is usually associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Radical resection and antiviral therapy are considered key clinical treatments for patients with HBV-related HCC. However, many patients have their HCC and HBV infection detected at the same time, so they receive remedial antiviral treatment beginning in the perioperative period, missing the opportunity for long-term preoperative antiviral therapy. Therefore, evaluating the clinical efficacy and relevant factors of perioperative remedial antiviral therapy will be valuable.
