Combining irreversible electroporation and immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: Reflections and directions for advancement.

We read with great interest the recent article by Xing et al, which describes the synergy between irreversible electroporation and anti-programmed death-1 therapy in a murine hepatocellular carcinoma model. The study offers valuable mechanistic insights into local ablation, enhancing the efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade. However, critical methodological limitations and an overstatement of mechanistic conclusions warrant cautious interpretation. We recommend clarifying experimental details, optimizing murine models, applying more robust statistical analyses, and tempering conclusions to reflect the correlative nature of the findings. Further work should investigate immune mechanisms, durability of response, and safety in clinically relevant models to maximize translational potential. These refinements will strengthen the study's impact in advancing ablation-immunotherapy strategies in hepatocellular carcinoma.