A study reported that stress-responsive MAIT cells can promote an immunosuppressive peritumoral environment and drive microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma through the CCL20–CCR6 axis. The findings frame a pathway that links immune stress sensing to tumor spread. For drug developers, the work identifies a specific chemokine-receptor interaction as a tractable node for combination strategies—potentially alongside checkpoint inhibitors—to blunt both immune suppression and metastatic vascularization.