Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42087213›Full record

ReviewCancer cell international2026

Personalized immunotherapy in HCC: synthesis, delivery, and clinical progress of mRNA-based vaccines.

Shirin Tavakoli, Ali Hassanzadeh, Maryam Samareh Salavatipour, Leila Hojjati, Somayeh Shamlou, Amin Kamrani, Nasim Vousooghi, Maryam Iranpour

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Cancer cell international, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Shirin Tavakoli *Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Department, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, I. R. of Iran.
Ali Hassanzadeh *Department of Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Maryam Samareh SalavatipourPathology and Stem Cell Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Leila HojjatiPediatric Health Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Somayeh ShamlouDepartment of Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Amin KamraniImmunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Nasim VousooghiDepartment of Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. n-vousooghi@tums.ac.ir.
Maryam IranpourPathology and Stem Cell Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. dr.iranpour.86@gmail.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccines have quickly developed as a unique approach to cancer immunotherapy with specific antigen expression, flexible design, and safety. They are broadly categorized into self-amplifying mRNA (SAM) vaccines and non-replicating mRNA vaccines. SAM vaccines contain viral replicase elements enabling intracellular RNA amplification and strong antigen expression, whereas non-replicating mRNA vaccines encode only the target antigen and rely on direct translation for immunogenicity. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly aggressive cancer that often exhibits resistance to standard-of-care therapy and appears to benefit from being targeted with mRNA vaccines to produce an anti-tumor immune response. Herein, we review the stepwise approach of vaccine construction of mRNA vaccines, including building a DNA template, in vitro transcription, capping, polyadenylation, and purification of the mRNA, and their delivery as lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), dendritic cells, or naked RNA. In addition, we present a synthesis of progress made through the identification of HCC-specific neoantigens and high-affinity neoantigens (HANs) that activate cytotoxic T cells, correlating with better patient outcomes. Recent preclinical and clinical studies demonstrate the safety and efficacy of mRNA vaccines that encode either tumor-associated or patient-specific neoantigens, often in combination with local therapeutics or immune checkpoint inhibitors. We offer further considerations regarding combinations of mRNA vaccines with strategies including but not limited to adoptive cell therapy, tumor suppressor gene restoration, anti-angiogenesis drugs, and metabolic reprogramming. In many ways, a key consideration is the strategies being developed to overcome the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in the liver, and mRNA-induced co-stimulation (e.g., OX40L), TP53 gene editing, and targeting of myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Overall, our review has offered perspectives on the many types of opportunistic strategies being investigated, combining mRNA vaccines to not only prime for anti-tumor immunity or alternate human sources of anti-tumor immunity but also remodel the immunologic landscape that permeates HCC. With numerous ongoing studies and rapid technology advances, mRNA-based immunotherapies are sure to transform how we manage liver cancer.

Indexed as

HCCImmunotherapyMRNA vaccineTumor immunity

Identifiers

PMID42087213
PMCPMC13321620

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.