Transcriptome Analysis of Solute Carrier-Associated Genes in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Friend or Foe?

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common types of cancer, and its treatment remains difficult. Since the early symptoms of HCC are not obvious, many HCC patients are already at an advanced stage of the disease at the time of diagnosis. Although current targeted therapy and immunotherapy have been initially effective in HCC patients, several patients have shown low response rates or developed drug resistance, which leads to tumor progression and even death. Hence, there is an urgent need for new biomarkers to guide the prognosis and treatment of HCC. In our study, a prognostic signature consisting of nine SLC genes was constructed in HCC by comprehensive analysis. By calculating risk scores, HCC patients could be divided into high-risk and low-risk groups, with the high-risk group having a significantly poorer prognosis. In addition, we found a hub gene, SLC7A11, which is a robust prognostic marker of HCC. In conclusion, our study can serve as a reference for the prognostic evaluation and treatment of HCC.