MINI REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Immunology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1611829
This article is part of the Research TopicNutraceuticals as natural modulators of inflammatory signaling pathways in the immune system.View all articles
Immunomodulatory Role of Vitamin D and Emerging Immunotherapies in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Provisionally accepted
- 1Internal Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
- 2Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, University of Milan, Rozzano, Italy
- 3Oncology Consultants, Hurst Medical Clinic, Hurst, 76054, TX, USA., hurst, United States
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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers globally, with nearly 1 million new cases diagnosed annually. It is a complex disease, with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections being the most common etiological factors worldwide. Despite advances in therapy, survival rates for advanced and/or metastatic HCC remain low, with mortality rates 2.3 times higher in men than women. The liver's immune system typically maintains an anti-inflammatory environment, contributing to immune tolerance to exogenous, food-derived antigens. However, disruption of the balanced interplay between immune factors within the hepatic microenvironment - due to viral hepatitis, excessive alcohol intake, NonAlcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) or Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) - can lead to chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, a cumulative mutational burden, cirrhosis, and eventually, malignant transformation. Once HCC is established, however, a functional pro-inflammatory immune response becomes critical to controlling tumor progression, as evidenced by the recent success of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatments in HCC patients. In addition to ICIs, other novel immunotherapeutic intervention strategies, such as cancer vaccines and adoptive T cell therapies, are currently being investigated. Furthermore, adequate nutrition plays a critical role in modulating immune function, with Vitamin D being a key nutrient for immune\regulation. In this review, we will discuss the potential role of vitamin D in HCC immunity and recent immunotherapeutic advances in the management of this malignancy.
Keywords: Tumor microenvironments, Vaccines, artificial intelligence, Technology, Science, Liver, HCC, Cancer
Received: 14 Apr 2025; Accepted: 20 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chiriva-Internati, Grizzi, figueroa, Daoyan and Bresalier. 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: Maurizio Chiriva-Internati, Internal Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, 79430, TX, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.