CD274 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Furthermore, FDA approved nivolumab for the treatment of HCC patients following prior sorafenib administration, regardless of the etiology of HCC or tumor expression of PD-L1.[36] In the CheckMate-040 study, 154 patients with HCC who were intolerant to sorafenib or who progressed on sorafenib were enrolled to evaluate the efficacy of nivolumab.