Adaptive immunity suppresses formation and progression of diethylnitrosamine-induced liver cancer

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a typical inflammation-associated cancer, but may also provoke antitumour immune responses whose significance and underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Objective To characterise immune responses in the diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-liver cancer mouse model. Design Tumour development and immune cell functions upon DEN treatment were compared between C57BL/6 wild-type (WT), chemokine scavenging receptor D6-deficient, B cell- (Igh6), CD4 T cell- (MHC-II) and T-/B cell-deficient (Rag1) mice. Relevance for human HCC was tested by comparing gene array results from 139 HCC tissues. Results The induction of premalignant lesions after 24 weeks and…