Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. The emergence of combination therapy, atezolizumab (anti-PDL1, immune checkpoint inhibitor) and bevacizumab (anti-VEGF) has revolutionised the management of HCC. Despite this breakthrough, the best overall response rate with first-line systemic therapy is only about 30%, owing to intra-tumoural heterogeneity, complex tumour microenvironment and the lack of predictive biomarkers.