Peripheral immune characteristics of hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Our study showed that circulating lymphocytes in HBV-HCC patients exhibited features of immune exhaustion, especially in HCC patients with persistent viral replication and in patients with intermediate and advanced HBV-HCC, including decreased frequency of T cells and elevated expression of inhibitory receptors including TIGIT and TIM3 on CD4⁺ T cells and γδ T cells. Meanwhile, our research suggests that the combination of CD3⁺ T cell and CD8⁺HLADR⁺CD38⁺ T cell may be a potential diagnostic indicator for HBV-HCC. These findings could help us to better understand the immune characteristics of HBV-HCC and explore the immune mechanisms and immunotherapy strategies for HBV-HCC.