Cancer immunotherapy is more dependent on monoclonal antibodies, proteins, and cells, as therapeutic agents, to attain prominent outcomes. However, cancer immunotherapy’s clinical benefits need to ...

(2015). Nivolumab and pembrolizumab as immune-modulating monoclonal antibodies targeting the PD-1 receptor to treat melanoma. Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy: Vol. 15, No. 9, pp. 981-993. doi: 10.1586/14737140.2015.1074862

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a hazardous liver infection. Globally, over 350 million people suffer from persistent HBV infection. At least 600,000 patients die of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related diseases, including Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB), Liver Cirrhosis (LC), and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) annually [ 1 ] [1] . A significant reduction in HBV infection prevalence has been achieved by an approved vaccination approach using recombinant Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg) [ 2 ] [2] . However, some diabetic and hemodialysis patients and 12–21% of healthy vaccinated adults do not develop an adequate response following the HBsAg vaccine [ 3 ] [3] . It has been demonstrated that a Th1 immune response is related to the successful development of humoral immune responses against HBs antigen [ 4 ] [4] . One important immunologic finding in the non-responder patients is a defect in IFN-γ production due to the interference of the virus with cytokine production, which finally weakens the cellular immune response and results in disease progression [ 5 ] [5] , stimulation of cellular immune response and the Th1 cytokine platform that is critical for the disease control and treatment. This strategy, known as therapeutic vaccination, is effective in patients and viably controls the disease. Although alum is used as an ordinary adjuvant in the HBs vaccine formulation for its induction of a strong humoral immune response, it failed to induce cellular immune responses [ 6 ] [6] . Herein, the utilization of an immunomodulator agent in parallel with HBs vaccination may be useful to induce both cellular as well as humoral immune responses. Selenium plays a dominant role in many processes such as immune system modulation, antioxidant and anticarcinogenic effects, cancer prevention, and antiviral activities [ 7 ] [7] .