Mini-reviewImmunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma using chimeric antigen receptors and bispecific antibodies

•Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide.•Chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) contain the antigen binding domain of an antibody to redirect effector cell to cancer cell.•Bispecific antibodies (BsAb) redirect effector cells toward cancer cells for their killing.•HCC targets for which CARs and bispecific antibodies have been generated will be discussed in this paper.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most lethal cancers worldwide with an overall survival rate of less than 15% in developed countries. Despite attempts at new therapeutic strategies, the majority of patients succumb to this cancer. Buttressed by the highly successful clinical impact in melanoma, immunotherapy is gaining momentum as the next treatment modality for many human cancers. Chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) contain the antigen binding moieties of a monoclonal antibody and the co-stimulatory and signaling domains associated with effector receptor signaling. Bispecific antibodies (BsAb) combine the binding specificities of two different monoclonal antibodies, one activating a receptor on a killer effector cell, while the other engaging a tumor-associated antigen to initiate tumor cytotoxicity. In this review, we survey the HCC targets for which CARs and bispecific antibodies have been generated. The pros and cons of these targets for T-cell and Natural Killer cell based immunotherapy will be discussed.