[Progress in immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the malignant tumors with the highest morbidity and mortality in the world. The morbidity and mortality of HCC are increasing every year. Liver cancer is a serious threat to public health in China and the death rate of patients with liver cancer in China is the highest in the world. Beyond surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, immunotherapy is an emerging treatment for cancer, which could control and kill tumor cells by relieving the inhibitory status of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and activating the immune function of the body. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive immunotherapy and tumor vaccine are the major treatments of immunotherapy. Compared with traditional therapy methods, immunotherapy could enhance immune function, delay tumor progression, prolong the survival time of patients, and becomes a hotspot in the basic and clinical cancer research. This article reviews the research progress of immunotherapy for liver cancer.