Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Aug 15, 2016; 7(3): 242-255
Published online Aug 15, 2016. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v7.i3.242
Immunobiology of hepatocarcinogenesis: Ways to go or almost there?
Pavan Patel, Steven E Schutzer, Nikolaos Pyrsopoulos
Pavan Patel, Steven E Schutzer, Department of Medicine, Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07101-1709, United States
Nikolaos Pyrsopoulos, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07101-1709, United States
Author contributions: Patel P wrote the paper; Schutzer SE and Pyrsopoulos N contributed to the manuscript by providing revision and oversight of its writing.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Nikolaos Pyrsopoulos, MD: Advisory board for GILEAD, BMS, ABBVIE research for ABBVIE.
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/
Correspondence to: Nikolaos Pyrsopoulos, Chief, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, 185 South Orange Avenue, MSB H538, Newark, NJ 07101-1709, United States. pyrsopni@njms.rutgers.edu
Telephone: +1-973-9725252 Fax: +1-973-9723144
Received: April 26, 2016
Peer-review started: April 28, 2016
First decision: June 16, 2016
Revised: July 1, 2016
Accepted: July 20, 2016
Article in press: July 22, 2016
Published online: August 15, 2016
Processing time: 105 Days and 22 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Hepatocellular carcinoma is on the rise and is associated with high mortality. Cancer immunology is an expanding field with promise. This review will summarize the current concepts in the immunobiology of hepatocarcinogenesis including the interplay of a variety of immune cells involved in anti-tumor and pro-tumor effects. Oncogenic pathways currently known to effect hepatocarcinogenesis will also be discussed. Finally, currently tested and developed treatment modalities employing immunotherapy will be discussed with an outlook on future therapies.