Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T Cells: A New Era for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers and a worldwide health concern that requires novel treatment approaches. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and immune checkpoint blockades (ICBs) are the current standard of care; however, their clinical benefits are limited in some advanced and metastatic patients. With the help of gene engineering techniques, a novel adoptive cellular therapy (ACT) called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells was recently introduced for treating HCC. A plethora of current clinical and preclinical studies are attempting to improve the efficacy of CAR-T cells by dominating the immunosuppressive environment of HCC and finding the best tumor-specific antigens (TSAs). The future of care for HCC patients might be drastically improved due to the convergence of novel therapeutic methods and the continuous progress in ACT research. However, the clinical application of CAR-T cells in solid tumors is still facing several challenges. In this study, we provide an overview of the advancement and prospects of CAR-T cell immunotherapy in HCC, as well as an investigation of how cutting-edge engineering could improve CAR-T cell efficacy and safety profile.