To date, few studies have investigated the differences in T cell exhaustion between chronic infection and cancer. In this study, we assayed the phenotypes and functional states of CD8+ T cells separating from human chronic hepatitis B (CHB) tissues and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues, and re-analyze the single-cell sequencing data (GSE98638) of T cells from HBV-positive liver cancers. Our results showed that the phenotypes, functional states and underlying mechanisms of CD8+ T cell exhaustion are different between the CHB and HCC, which may stimulate future studies and might provide new insights into T cell exhaustion. (By Xiaochen Wang, http://jmg.bmj.com/content/early/2018/04/17/jmedgenet-2018-105267?papetoc )