HARNESSING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM AGAINST HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA: A CLINICAL PERSPECTIVE

Nebin Sajeer*, Sandra Prasanth, Anjitha B. S., Jessica Sanil, Devananda H. and Dr. Rincy R. L.

ABSTRACT

Hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC, is one of the most common and deadliest types of cancer worldwide. It accounts for nearly 90% of primary liver cancers and is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. For years, treatment options were pretty limited, especially for those diagnosed in the later stages when the disease is harder to tackle. But things have started to change thanks to immunotherapy—a new kind of treatment that helps the body’s own immune system fight back against cancer. One of the biggest breakthroughs has been the combination of two drugs: atezolizumab, which helps ―take the brakes off‖ the immune system, and bevacizumab, which cuts off the blood supply tumors need to grow. This combo is now the first choice for treating advanced HCC because it not only helps people live longer but also improves their quality of life. Researchers aren’t stopping there, though. They’re exploring exciting new approaches like oncolytic viruses, which are designed to infect and kill cancer cells directly, and adoptive T-cell therapy, which boosts the cancer-fighting power of a patient’s own immune cells. Still, HCC tumors have a way of creating a kind of ―immune shield‖ that makes it tough for treatments to work perfectly. That means there’s a lot more we need to learn—like how to use immunotherapy earlier, what drug combinations work best, and how to overcome when tumors become resistant. This review takes a close look at why immunotherapy makes sense for HCC, what the clinical trials have shown so far, and where the research is headed next. For people facing this tough diagnosis, these advances bring fresh hope that better, more effective treatments are on the horizon.

Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), Immunotherapy, Immune checkpoint inhibitors, Tumor immune microenvironment, Adoptive T-cell therapy, Combination therapy.