REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1533874
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancements in Antibody-Based Immunotherapy and Cancer Vaccines for Hepatocellular CarcinomaView all 7 articles
Antibody Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Review of Current and Emerging Approaches
Provisionally accepted
- 1Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Center for Medical Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
- 2Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- 3Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Shebin El-Koam, Egypt
- 4Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
- 5Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Institute of Biotechnology, National Research Centre (Egypt), Giza, Beni Suef, Egypt
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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, underscoring the urgent need for innovative therapeutic strategies. Antibody-based therapies have emerged as a transformative approach, offering specificity and the potential to overcome the limitations of traditional treatments. This comprehensive review evaluates the current and emerging applications of antibody therapies in HCC, including monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), bispecific antibodies, and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). It explores their mechanisms of action, such as immune modulation, angiogenesis inhibition, and targeted cytotoxicity. Key advancements include the integration of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) like PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors into clinical practice and the development of bispecific antibodies and ADCs targeting tumor-specific antigens like glypican-3. While these therapies have shown promise in improving patient outcomes, challenges such as tumor heterogeneity, resistance mechanisms, and immune-related adverse events persist. This review highlights recent clinical trial data, identifies areas for future research, and emphasizes the potential of combining antibody therapies with other modalities to enhance efficacy and overcome therapeutic barriers. By addressing these challenges and leveraging advancements in antibody engineering and biomarker discovery, antibody-based therapies hold significant promise for revolutionizing the treatment paradigm for HCC.
Keywords: HCC, Antibody therapy, monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies, Antibody-drug conjugates, Immune checkpoints inhibitors
Received: 25 Nov 2024; Accepted: 04 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 El-Kafrawy, Elkafrawy, Azhar, Saeed and Tabll. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Sherif A. El-Kafrawy, Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Center for Medical Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 22252, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Ashraf A Tabll, Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Institute of Biotechnology, National Research Centre (Egypt), Giza, 12622, Beni Suef, Egypt
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