Furthermore, we observed that BE from NAFLD-HCC subjects attenuated the expansion of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells (CD3+CD8+CCR7−CD45RO−) and promoted the emergence of central memory CD8+ T cells (CD3+CD8+CCR7+CD45RO+) (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.003, respectively) (Supplementary Fig. 5b). Here, CCR7 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.