Fine needle aspirates characterise the hepatocellular carcinoma immune niche to predict immune checkpoint inhibitor outcomes
This study addresses the need for simple and minimally invasive assessment of the tumour immune microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma, revealing key compartmentalised immunotherapy targets that are not predictable from blood. Findings are important for researchers, clinicians and patients to guide personalised immune checkpoint inhibitor selection and the development of novel approaches to block immunosuppressive neutrophils in order to improve on limited responses to current hepatocellular carcinoma therapies. We demonstrate the potential of rapid fine needle aspirate-based immune profiling to be integrated into larger studies, including clinical trials, to guide personalised selection of patients for existing and future immune checkpoint inhibitors, provide insights into mechanisms of primary and secondary resistance, and inform the development of novel immunotherapy targets.
Authors
- Jessica Davies
- Stephanie Kucykowicz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8849-218X)
- Gloryanne Aidoo-Micah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5696-9943)
- Vishnu Naidu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8764-0104)
- Leo Swadling (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0537-6715)
- Tim Meyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0782-8647)
- Upkar S. Gill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6146-9708)
- Mariana O. Diniz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1961-0189)
- Yiya Zhong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8725-7822)
- Mala K. Maini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6384-1462)
- Nathalie Schmidt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9841-8418)
- Edward D. Green (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5445-5228)
- Laura J. Pallett (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4161-9462)
- Alexa Childs
- Rushabh Shah
- Daniel Brown Romero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5989-3777)
- Tate Mckinnon-Snell
- Sayani Khara
Institutions
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- The Royal Free Hospital (GB)
- CRUK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence (GB)
- University College London (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- JHEP Reports
- Published
- 2025-10-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhepr.2025.101637
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.05