2. Academic Validation
  3. Immunotherapy and drug sensitivity predictive roles of a novel prognostic model in hepatocellular carcinoma

Immunotherapy and drug sensitivity predictive roles of a novel prognostic model in hepatocellular carcinoma

  • Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 25;14(1):9509. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-59877-9.
Xiaoge Gao # 1,  Xin Ren # 1 2,  Feitong Wang 3,  Xinxin Ren 4,  Mengchen Liu 5,  Guozhen Cui 5,  Xiangye Liu 6 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Cancer Institute, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221002, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China.
  • 2 Department of Oncology, Jiangyin Clinical College, Xuzhou Medical University, Jiangyin, 214400, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China.
  • 3 Department of General Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221002, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China.
  • 4 School of Information and Artificial Intelligence, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, People's Republic of China.
  • 5 School of Bioengineering, Zhuhai Campus of Zunyi Medical University, Zhuhai, 519040, Guangdong Province, People's Republic of China.
  • 6 Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Immunity and Metabolism, Department of Pathogenic Biology and Immunology, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221004, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. [email protected].
  • 7 National Demonstration Center for Experimental Basic Medical Science Education (Xuzhou Medical University), Xuzhou, 221002, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. [email protected].
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 38664521 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59877-9
Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most significant causes of cancer-related deaths in the worldwide. Currently, predicting the survival of patients with HCC and developing treatment drugs still remain a significant challenge. In this study, we employed prognosis-related genes to develop and externally validate a predictive risk model. Furthermore, the correlation between signaling pathways, immune cell infiltration, immunotherapy response, drug sensitivity, and risk score was investigated using different algorithm platforms in HCC. Our results showed that 11 differentially expressed genes including UBE2C, PTTG1, TOP2A, SPP1, FCN3, SLC22A1, ADH4, CYP2C8, SLC10A1, F9, and FBP1 were identified as being related to prognosis, which were integrated to construct a prediction model. Our model could accurately predict patients' overall survival using both internal and external datasets. Moreover, a strong correlation was revealed between the signaling pathway, immune cell infiltration, immunotherapy response, and risk score. Importantly, a novel potential drug candidate for HCC treatment was discovered based on the risk score and also validated through ex vivo experiments. Our finds offer a novel perspective on prognosis prediction and drug exploration for Cancer patients.

Keywords

Drug candidate; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Immunotherapy response; Prognosis prediction.

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