Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Chinese Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Characteristics and Particularity

Abstract

More than half of new cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and associated deaths occurring annually worldwide are recorded in China. Chinese patients with HCC exhibit special characteristics in terms of etiology, leading to differences in prognosis versus Western patients. In recent years, several angiogenesis inhibitors were approved, and immune checkpoint blockers (ICBs) were recommended as second-line therapy for advanced HCC. In addition, the recent success of a combination of atezolizumab with bevacizumab signals resulted in an essential change in the first-line treatment of HCC. We investigated the characteristics of patients with HCC in China and summarized the rapidly emerging relevant clinical data, which relate to the prospects and challenges associated with the use of ICBs in this setting. We further evaluated the efficacy of ICBs in Chinese patients with HCC based on data obtained from global trials, and discussed possible factors influencing the effectiveness of ICBs in patients with HCC in China. Immunotherapy offers new options for the treatment of advanced HCC, though responses varied between patients. Currently, there is a need to discover specific biomarkers for the accurate identification of patients who would more likely benefit from immunotherapy. Furthermore, investigation of patient characteristics in different countries is necessary to provide a clinical practice basis and reference value for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.

Construction of a prognostic model for HCC based on ferroptosis-related lncRNAs expression and its potential to predict the response and irAEs of immunotherapy

“…With the recent FDA approval of anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 drugs (Keytruda, Tecentriq, nivolumab), immune checkpoint blocker (ICBs) therapy as a new therapy for patients with advanced HCC has gained more and more attention from researchers. Various immune checkpoint inhibitors, alone or in combination with targeted therapy and traditional chemotherapy, are also increasingly used to treat patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma ( Pinter et al, 2021a ; Pinter et al, 2021b ; Wu et al, 2022 ). However, only part of these patients can benefit from immunotherapy, possibly due to the complexity and heterogeneity of the tumor itself, as well as many unknown factors in the tumor microenvironment (TME) ( El Dika et al, 2019 ; Lee et al, 2020 ; Zhu et al, 2022 ).…”

Combination of Bone-Modifying Agents with Immunotarget Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Bone Metastases

“…Recent retrospective studies have proved the safety and effectiveness of the combined regimen for advanced HCC [ 8 , 9 ]. However, there was a paucity of clinical research concentrating on the TKIs + ICIs, especially for HCC with BoM, while this regimen has been widely used as the first-line systemic therapy [ 10 ].…”