Teng D, et al. - Researchers intended to determine the role of interleukin (IL)-7 in modulation of dysfunctional CD8⁺ T cells in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 37 HLA-A2 restricted patients with HCC and 16 healthy individuals. HCC patients had significantly reduced serum IL-7 concentration, while up-regulated IL-7 expression was noted after effective anti-tumor treatment. Most likely through repression of programmed death-1 (PD-1) under direct tumor cells presentation, IL-7 enhanced both cytolytic and noncytolytic activity of CD8⁺ T cells to HCC. Overall, IL-7 might be considered as one of the therapeutic candidates for HCC treatment.