Drug development in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been characterised by many failures in the past. Despite good rationales and promising phase II data, many phase III trials failed. Immunotherapy represents an alternative treatment approach that has been successful in many different cancer types. As an inflammation induced cancer, HCC represents a very interesting target for immune based approaches. Indeed, early results from clinical trials testing immune checkpoint inhibitors are not only promising, but have already led to evaluation in a phase III setting. Herein, we summarise our current knowledge on the rationale, mechanism of action and clinical data for immune checkpoint blockade in HCC. In addition, we provide an overview of other novel immune based approaches currently under development for the treatment of HCC, such as adoptive cell based and antibody-based approaches.

中文翻译：

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肝癌免疫治疗的靶点


过去，肝细胞癌 (HCC) 药物开发经历了多次失败。尽管有充分的理由和有希望的二期数据，许多三期试验还是失败了。免疫疗法代表了一种替代治疗方法，已在许多不同的癌症类型中取得成功。作为一种炎症诱发的癌症，HCC 代表了基于免疫的方法的一个非常有趣的目标。事实上，测试免疫检查点抑制剂的临床试验的早期结果不仅充满希望，而且已经在 III 期环境中进行了评估。在此，我们总结了目前关于 HCC 免疫检查点阻断的基本原理、作用机制和临床数据的知识。此外，我们还概述了目前正在开发的用于治疗 HCC 的其他新型免疫方法，例如基于过继细胞和基于抗体的方法。