Introduction
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a significant global health challenge, ranking among the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Despite advances in surgical techniques and locoregional therapies, long-term survival in HCC patients, particularly those with advanced or large tumors, remains suboptimal. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), such as anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) and anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) antibodies, have revolutionized systemic therapy in advanced HCC, yielding durable responses in subsets of patients. However, their role as neoadjuvant or perioperative treatments in potentially resectable HCC is under active investigation. In this context, a recent study by Lin et al. evaluated the long-term efficacy and immunological biomarkers of neoadjuvant nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with potentially resectable HCC, advancing our understanding of how combination immunotherapy might improve surgical outcomes and long-term survival.
