In this work, the anti-PD-1 antibody-responsive tumors of orthotopic Hepa1-6 tumor-bearing mice had more stem-like CD8+PD-1+TCF-1+ T cells and terminally exhausted CD8+PD-1+TCF-1- T cells, revealing that increasing the number of stem-like CD8+ T cells was vital for the enhanced anti-PD-1 therapy in HCC. Here, CD8A is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.