Personalized T-cell therapy in liver transplanted patients with hepatitis B virus related hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is a deadly malignancy which typically occurs in the context of chronic liver inflammation.Chronic hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection is considered a major global cause of HCC development.At the moment,liver transplantation is the only curative modality for HBV-associated HCC.However,some patients develop HBV-HCC recurrence after liver transplantation,leaving them with very limited therapeutic options.Adoptive cell therapy with HBV-specific T cell receptor(TCR)that redirects T cells against HCC relapses has shown promising results in such HBV-HCC patients.In this mini-review,we discuss the application of this personalized T cell therapy,and highlight mRNA electroporation as an efficient tool for engineering safe and efficient TCR-redirected T cells for the treatment of liver transplant patients with HBV-HCC metastasis.