A new perspective on the immune escape mechanism in HCC: onco-foetal reprogramming.

We found a shared immunosuppressive microenvironment between foetal liver and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) which includes the re-emergence of foetal-associated endothelial cells (PLVAP/VEGFR2) and foetal-like (FOLR2) tumour-associated macrophages in HCC, mediated via VEGF-NOTCH signalling. The discoveries suggest possible novel targets for therapeutic interventions in HCC.