CD8A and hepatocellular carcinoma: As for a reason for that phenomenon, it has been reported that CD8 + T cells in HCC patients with NASH are increased and activated by IL-15-induced Fas-ligand dependent apoptosis through tumor necrotic factor (TNF) and acetate in the tumor, unlike MHC class-I dependent CD8 + T cell activation27, thus immune response to tumor antigens is impaired28,29.