CD8A and hepatocellular carcinoma: TAA comprise a range of self‐derived proteins rendered immunogenic in tumors either by mutation or aberrant expression.6 A variety of different TAA can spontaneously induce CD8+ T‐cell responses in HCC patients; these include α‐fetoprotein (AFP), glypican‐3 (GPC‐3), melanoma‐associated gene‐A1 (MAGE‐A1), and New York‐esophageal squamous cell carcinoma‐1 (NY‐ESO‐1).7 In addition, TAA‐specific responses can also be boosted in vivo in HCC patients by dendritic cell‐based vaccination with tumor lysate.11