©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Meta-Anal. Jun 28, 2020; 8(3): 190-209
Published online Jun 28, 2020. doi: 10.13105/wjma.v8.i3.190
Published online Jun 28, 2020. doi: 10.13105/wjma.v8.i3.190
Immunotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma: Combination strategies
Alexander Claudius Jordan, Department of Internal Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, United States
Jennifer Wu, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, United States
Author contributions: Jordan AC wrote and edited the manuscript; Wu J reviewed and edited the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Corresponding author: Jennifer Wu, MD, Associate Professor, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, 550 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States. jennifer.wu@nyulangone.org
Received: February 1, 2020
Peer-review started: February 1, 2020
First decision: February 24, 2020
Revised: May 1, 2020
Accepted: June 25, 2020
Article in press: June 25, 2020
Published online: June 28, 2020
Processing time: 157 Days and 3.9 Hours
Peer-review started: February 1, 2020
First decision: February 24, 2020
Revised: May 1, 2020
Accepted: June 25, 2020
Article in press: June 25, 2020
Published online: June 28, 2020
Processing time: 157 Days and 3.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Immunotherapy remains a viable option for the systemic treatment of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, although nivolumab and pembrolizumab failed to meet their endpoints in phase III studies. Combining immunotherapy with other treatment modalities may improve treatment responses. Multiple clinical trials are evaluating the safety and efficacy of these new combination strategies, which involve pairing PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors with CTLA-4 inhibitors, or pairing checkpoint inhibitors with alternative agents or non-pharmacologic therapies.