LAUSR

The present issue of Seminars in Immunopathology covers a number of reviews that summarize emerging concepts, potential therapeutic targets and mechanisms that underly the immunopathology of liver inflammation and liver cancer. Liver inflammation is one of the most common medical conditions in the world, which can be caused by various insults, including viral infection, toxins, hereditary metabolic diseases or autoimmune diseases. Frequently, chronic liver inflammation results in liver cirrhosis or liver cancer, both being leading causes of death worldwide. In fact, liver cirrhosis has caused more than 1.32 million deaths in the year 2017 [1]. In 2020, more than 900,000 new cases of liver cancer have been diagnosed, and more than 800,000 people have died from liver cancer, making it the sixth most common tumour worldwide with the third highest mortality rate [2]. The majority of these liver cancers develop from hepatocytes, the liver parenchymal cells (hepatocellular carcinoma) or from cholangiocytes, the cells lining the bile ducts (cholangiocarcinoma). Irrespective of the underlying cause, liver carcinogenesis most often progresses along a sequence of chronic inflammatory liver damage, compensatory regeneration and fibrotic and cirrhotic tissue remodelling [3]. Thus, there is urgent, yet unmet need for curative treatments tackling liver inflammation and carcinogenesis. However, only a deep understanding of the immunopathology will enable the development of novel, effective therapies. This collection of reviews seeks to wrap up several key issues in the immunopathology of liver inflammation and liver cancer.