Apatinib Prevents Natural Killer Cell Dysfunction to Enhance the Efficacy of Anti-PD-1 Immunotherapy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Using a syngeneic hepatoceullar carcinoma (HCC) mouse model, the authors demonstrated that treatment with apatinib resulted in attenuation of tumor growth and increased tumor vessel normalization. Results indicated that NK cells, but not CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ T cells mediated the therapeutic efficacy of apatinib in HCC mouse models.