CD4 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Of note, animal studies suggest that metabolic changes occurring during, but also before the emergence of MASH-induced HCC, such as the increased fatty-acid oxidation that compensates for aberrant steatosis, may lead to progressive mitochondrial-ROS -induced apoptosis of CD4+ T cells, hindering antitumor immunity (Ma et al., 2016; Brown et al., 2018).