{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]],"date-time":"2026-06-29T14:27:04Z","timestamp":1782743224572,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,18]],"date-time":"2025-06-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750204800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Multiple studies have demonstrated that adjuvant therapy with programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibitors can enhance the recurrence-free survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following curative resection. This study aims to assess the efficacy and safety of adjuvant tislelizumab (a PD-1 inhibitor), with or without tyrosine kinase inhibitors, in HCC patients at high risk of recurrence.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This is a retrospective, multicenter, single-arm study that enrolled patients with high-risk factors for HCC recurrence. Within 4 to 8 weeks following curative resection, participants received tislelizumab, with or without tyrosine kinase inhibitors, as adjuvant therapy until disease recurrence, unacceptable toxicity, or a maximum of 1 year. The primary endpoint was recurrence-free survival. Secondary endpoints included overall survival and adverse events.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Between June 2020 and January 2024, a total of 108 patients were enrolled in the study. With a median follow-up duration of 24.3 months, the 12 - month and 24 - month recurrence-free survival rates were71.3% and 59.3%, respectively. The 12 - month and 24 - month overall survival rates were 88.0% and 83.4%, respectively, and the median recurrence-free survival and median overall survival were not reached. Among these 108 patients, 43 patients (39.8%) received tislelizumab monotherapy, while 65 patients (60.2%) received tislelizumab plus tyrosine kinase inhibitors. For both groups, the median recurrence-free survival (hazard ratio 1.046, 95%CI 0.58-1.90) and median overall survival (hazard ratio 1.06, 95%CI 0.42-2.67) were not reached, with no significant difference between the two groups. Patients who received adjuvant therapy for a duration of more than 6 months had a significantly longer median recurrence-free survival compared to those who received adjuvant therapy for less than 6 months (not reached vs. 22 months, hazard ratio 2.29, 95%CI 1.14-4.61). Although there was no significant difference in overall survival between the two groups (hazard ratio 2.59, 95%CI 0.80-8.35), the overall survival tended to be higher in the group with an adjuvant therapy duration of more than 6 months. The incidence of all treatment-related adverse events and that of grade 3 or higher was 79.6% and 30.6%, respectively.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>For patients with high-risk HCC, postoperative adjuvant therapy employing tislelizumab for a duration exceeding 6 months may represent a viable strategy for reducing the risk of tumor recurrence.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2025.1593153","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,18]],"date-time":"2025-06-18T01:45:40Z","timestamp":1750211140000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["The efficacy and safety of tislelizumab with or without tyrosine kinase inhibitor as adjuvant therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma with high-risk of recurrence after curative 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