Personalized T-cell therapy in liver transplanted patients with hepatitis B virus related hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a deadly malignancy which typically occurs in the context of chronic liver inflammation. Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is considered a major global cause of HCC development. At the moment, liver transplantation is the only curative modality for HBV-associated HCC. However, some patients develop HBV-HCC recurrence after liver transplantation, leaving them with very limited therapeutic options. Adoptive cell therapy with HBV-specific T cell receptor (TCR) that redirects T cells against HCC relapses has shown promising results in such HBV-HCC patients. In this mini-review, we discuss the application of this personalized T cell therapy, and highlight mRNA electroporation as an efficient tool for engineering safe and efficient TCR-redirected T cells for the treatment of liver transplant patients with HBV-HCC metastasis.

Keywords

HBV / TCR-T cells / mRNA / HCC metastasis / adoptive cell therapy

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