4.3.5 Biological Therapy for Liver Cancer

4.3.5 Biological Therapy for Liver Cancer

Biological therapy achieves anti-tumor effects by regulating the body's immune mechanisms through genes and biological agents, offering higher tumor specificity and fewer toxic side effects. With the development of molecular biology and immunology, it has gradually become a brand-new treatment modality, encompassing gene therapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy.

Gene therapy involves using genetic and molecular biological techniques to correct or supplement genes in target cells, enabling normally non-expressed genes to be expressed or suppressing the expression of abnormal genes. Current research hotspots include immunogene therapy, tumor suppressor gene therapy, and suicide gene therapy. This is currently the most promising field in cancer treatment, but clinical applications still require further clinical trials.

Immunotherapy induces tumor-specific antigen expression, enhances the body's immunity, and thereby specifically inhibits liver cancer cells to achieve the effect of killing tumors. Currently used cytokines include interleukins, interferons, and tumor necrosis factors, while immune cells include TILs and NK cells, which can activate non-specific cellular immunity and peripheral blood immune cells, enhancing the immunogenicity of cancer cells. Clinical applications can kill cancer cells, inhibit liver cancer recurrence, and prolong survival.

Molecular targeted therapy uses inhibitors of cellular signaling pathways, angiogenesis inhibitors, growth factor inhibitors, and other agents that target overexpressed molecules in tumor cells as markers, effectively regulating these marker molecules, inhibiting related signal transduction pathways, and thereby blocking tumor growth and metastasis. Clinical studies have all demonstrated good efficacy and promising prospects. Currently, research on sorafenib, a multi-target drug, has shown it to be effective in treating liver cancer, as it can block new blood vessel formation in cells and promote cell apoptosis.