Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, No. 215, Heping West Road, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, China.
Internal Medicine, Yuhua Yunfang Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Clinic, Shijiazhuang, China.
BMC Gastroenterol. 2022 Aug 26;22(1):400. doi: 10.1186/s12876-022-02481-w.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a serious malignant disease with high incidence, high mortality and poor prognosis. This study aimed to establish a novel signature based on apoptosis-related genes (ARGs) to predict the prognosis of HCC.
Expression data of HCC from TCGA database and the list of 160 ARGs from MSigDB were downloaded. The genes included in apoptosis-related signature were selected by univariate Cox regression analysis and lasso Cox regression analysis. Subsequently, a prognostic risk model for scoring patients was developed, and then separates patients into two groups. Kaplan-Meier and receiver operating characteristic analysis were performed to evaluate the prognostic value of the model in TCGA, GEO and ICGC databases. The characteristics of immune cell infiltration between two groups of HCC were investigated. Finally, a nomogram was plotted to visualize the prognosis prediction.
Nine genes (CDC25B, DAP3, ETF1, GSR, LGALS3, MGMT, PPP2R5B, SQSTM1 and VDAC2) were included in the prognostic risk model. Survival was lower in the high-risk group. Surprisingly, the high-risk group was significantly more in immune cell infiltration and with higher immunoscore and stromalscore than in the low-risk group. In addition, the risk score was an independent prognostic factor for HCC.
Prognostic signature comprising nine ARGs could be used as a potential prognostic factor for HCC. It also provides an important idea for further understanding the immunotherapy of HCC.
肝细胞癌（HCC）是一种发病率高、死亡率高、预后差的严重恶性疾病。本研究旨在建立一个基于凋亡相关基因（ARGs）的新特征，以预测 HCC 的预后。
从 TCGA 数据库下载 HCC 的表达数据和来自 MSigDB 的 160 个 ARGs 列表。通过单变量 Cox 回归分析和套索 Cox 回归分析选择凋亡相关特征中包含的基因。随后，建立了用于对患者进行评分的预后风险模型，然后将患者分为两组。在 TCGA、GEO 和 ICGC 数据库中进行 Kaplan-Meier 和接收者操作特征分析，以评估模型的预后价值。研究两组 HCC 之间免疫细胞浸润的特征。最后，绘制列线图以可视化预后预测。
九个基因（CDC25B、DAP3、ETF1、GSR、LGALS3、MGMT、PPP2R5B、SQSTM1 和 VDAC2）被纳入预后风险模型。高风险组的生存率较低。令人惊讶的是，高风险组的免疫细胞浸润明显更多，免疫评分和基质评分也更高。此外，风险评分是 HCC 的一个独立预后因素。
由九个 ARGs 组成的预后特征可作为 HCC 的潜在预后因素。它还为进一步了解 HCC 的免疫治疗提供了一个重要思路。
