Engineering CAR-based cellular immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: Current barriers, innovative strategies,...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide, largely because most patients are diagnosed at advanced stages when curative treatment options are limited. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has produced deep and durable remissions in several B-cell and plasma-cell malignancies, enabling multiple regulatory approvals; however, its clinical translation to solid tumors such as HCC remains challenging due to the highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). This review discusses the major barriers limiting CAR-based cellular therapy in HCC and critically evaluates engineering strategies designed to improve tumor entry, fitness, safety, and durable control. Building on prior syntheses in CROH and other leading journals, we provide an HCC-specific, mechanism-to-design framework with quantitative benchmarks from early trials to prioritize translatable solutions and future directions.