Xiupeng Chen, Allison M. Keeler, Joae Qiong Wu
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains one of the most lethal and therapeutically challenging malignancies worldwide, presenting a dismal prognosis for patients diagnosed at advanced stages.1 While immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), particularly those targeting the programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/PD-L1 axis, have significantly altered clinical oncology timelines, their efficacy in advanced HCC remains limited to a minority of patients.2 This modest response rate is primarily attributed to the highly heterogeneous and frequently immunosuppressive nature of the tumor microenvironment (TME), which is often characterized by T cell exclusion and myeloid infiltration.