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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Sep 15, 2025; 17(9): 110166
Published online Sep 15, 2025. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i9.110166
Published online Sep 15, 2025. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i9.110166
Irreversible electroporation combined with checkpoint blockade stimulates antitumor immune response in a hepatocellular carcinoma mouse model
Yan-Li Xing, Hong-Mei Li, Xiao-Ming Pang, Ying Zhang, Ting Yang, De-Chuan Liu, Li-Zhi Niu, Department of Oncology, Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510655, Guangdong Province, China
Yan-Hong Li, Department of Nursing, Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510665, Guangdong Province, China
Yang-Yang Ma, Central Laboratory, Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510665, Guangdong Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Yang-Yang Ma and Li-Zhi Niu.
Author contributions: Xing YL wrote the paper; Li HM, Pang XM, Zhang Y, Yang T, Li YH and Liu DC performed the study selection; Ma YY analyzed the data; Niu LZ designed the project and edited the manuscript; All authors reviewed the final manuscript.
Supported by the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou, No. 202201020024.
Institutional review board statement: This study does not involve any human experiments.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: Female C57BL/6 mice were housed in a specific pathogen-free facility (12-hour light/dark cycle, 22 ± 2 °C, 50% ± 10% humidity) with ad libitum access to food and water. Mice meeting any endpoint criterion were euthanized via carbon dioxide overdose followed by cervical dislocation. All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital (No. FD-IRB-SL-KY-20230829).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: The data are available from the corresponding author at niuboshi@fudahospital.com.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Li-Zhi Niu, PhD, Professor, Department of Oncology, Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital, Jinan University, No. 2 Tangde West Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510665, Guangdong Province, China. niuboshi@fudahospital.com
Received: June 4, 2025
Revised: July 5, 2025
Accepted: August 15, 2025
Published online: September 15, 2025
Processing time: 108 Days and 1.2 Hours
Revised: July 5, 2025
Accepted: August 15, 2025
Published online: September 15, 2025
Processing time: 108 Days and 1.2 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study highlights the combination of irreversible electroporation and anti-programmed cell death protein 1 therapy synergistically enhances antitumor immunity by significantly increasing tumor infiltration of T cells [cluster of differentiation (CD) 4+, CD8+], natural killer cells, and B cells, elevating Th1-associated cytokine levels (interleukin-2, interferon-γ, and tumor necrosis factor-β), and upregulating CD8 messenger RNA expression. This dual approach markedly reduces tumor volume compared to monotherapies, demonstrating potentiated therapeutic efficacy and providing a novel strategy for ablation-immunotherapy integration, with potential implications for hepatocellular carcinoma.