CD8⁺ T Cell Responses during HCV Infection and HCC

• Main Authors: Maike Hofmann, Catrin Tauber, Nina Hensel, Robert Thimme
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical Medicine
• Subjects: HCV; HCC; T cell exhaustion; CD8⁺ T cells; checkpoint blockade therapy
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/5/991

Chronic hepatitis C virus (cHCV) infection is a major global health burden and the leading cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the Western world. The course and outcome of HCV infection is centrally influenced by CD8⁺ T cell responses. Indeed, strong virus-specific CD8⁺ T cell responses are associated with spontaneous viral clearance while failure of these responses, e.g., caused by viral escape and T cell exhaustion, is associated with the development of chronic infection. Recently, heterogeneity within the exhausted HCV-specific CD8⁺ T cells has been observed with implications for immunotherapeutic approaches also for other diseases. In HCC, the presence of tumor-infiltrating and peripheral CD8⁺ T cell responses correlates with a favorable prognosis. Thus, tumor-associated and tumor-specific CD8⁺ T cells are considered suitable targets for immunotherapeutic strategies. Here, we review the current knowledge of CD8+ T cell responses in chronic HCV infection and HCC and their respective failure with the potential consequences for T cell-associated immunotherapeutic approaches.