These results are in line with previous studies showing that CD8+ T‐cell lines specific for either AFP or GPC‐3 fail to produce IFN‐γ.7 However, when we used tetramers representing epitopes derived from MAGE‐A1 and NY‐ESO‐1 to detect TAA‐specific CD8+ T cells independent of their functionality, we were able to find those cells in more than 50% of HCC patients. This evidence concerns the gene MAGEA1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.