Immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma following thermal ablation

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common malignant disease and the third leading cause of cancer-associated deaths worldwide, and is characterized by a dismal prognosis. Despite the significant improvements achieved in liver transplantation, surgical resection, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and local ablative therapies such as percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI), radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA), the 5-year survival rate still remains unsatisfactory. The main reason is the high recurrence and metastasis rates after treatment. Immunotherapy based on the stimulation of antitumor immune response could represent a new strategy to control HCC recurrence and metastasis. Liver is an immunity organ itself and thermal ablation promotes the release of tumor-associated antigens. Based on the immune status of HCC patients before and after thermal ablation and tumor-associated antigens, this mini-review concisely discusses the potential of immunotherapy in HCC.