Advances in the application of programmed death-1/programmed death-ligand 1 inhibitors in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies in China, and due to the lack of specific symptoms, more than half of these patients are in the advanced stage at the time of initial diagnosis. Targeted therapy and systemic chemotherapies are the main treatment methods for advanced HCC with limited efficacy. In recent years, immunotherapy has been developed rapidly. This article introduces the current status of the immune checkpoint inhibitors, programmed death-1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors, in the treatment of HCC, summarizes the latest data of several clinical trials, and analyzes the safety and efficacy of monotherapy and combination therapy. The analysis shows that immunotherapy has become one of the important methods for systemic treatment, and combination therapy can significantly improve the outcome of HCC with a manageable safety profile, which is an important direction for future development.