Immune checkpoint blockade in hepatocellular carcinoma:... : Hepatology (original) (raw)

Concise Review

Immune checkpoint blockade in hepatocellular carcinoma: Current progress and future directions

Hato, Tai1; Goyal, Lipika2; Greten, Tim F.3; Duda, Dan G.1; Zhu, Andrew X.2

1_Edwin L. Steele Laboratory, Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA,_

2_Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA,_

3_Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD,_

Received 15 April 2014; accepted 31 May 2014

Address reprint requests to: Dan G. Duda, DMD, Ph.D., Edwin L. Steele Laboratory, Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114. Tel: 617-726-4648; E-mail:[email protected]; fax: 617-726-1962; or Andrew X. Zhu, M.D., Ph.D., Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA 02114. Tel: 617-643-3415; E-mail:[email protected]; fax: 617-724-3116.

Potential conflict of interest: Dr. Zhu consults for Sanofi-Aventis, Eisai, Exelixis, and Celgene.

Supported by National Institutes of Health grants P01-CA080124, R01-CA159258, and R21-CA139168, a National Cancer Institute/Proton Beam Federal Share Program award, and the American Cancer Society grant 120733-RSG-11-073-01-TBG (to D.G.D.); and a Postdoctoral Fellowship from Astellas Foundation for Research on Metabolic Disorders, Japan (to T.H.).

View this article online atwileyonlinelibrary.com.

Abstract

Immune checkpoint blockade has recently emerged as a promising therapeutic approach for various malignancies including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Preclinical and clinical studies have shown the potential benefit of modulating the immunogenicity of HCC. In addition, recent advances in tumor immunology have broadened our understanding of the complex mechanism of immune evasion. In this review we summarize the current knowledge on HCC immunology and discuss the potential of immune checkpoint blockade as a novel HCC therapy from the basic, translational, and clinical perspectives. (Hepatology 2014;60:1776–1782)