A Five-Gene-Based Prognostic Signature for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Objective: This study intends to identify potential prognostic marker genes associated with the prognosis of patients suffering from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) based on TCGA and GEO analysis. Methods: TCGA-LIHC cohort was downloaded and the data related to HCC were extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and subjected to differential analysis. HCC-related gene expression datasets were retrieved from the GEO database, followed by differential analysis. After intersection of the results of TCGA and GEO databases, gene interaction analysis was performed to obtain the core genes. To identify the genes related to the prognosis of HCC patients, we conducted univariate and multivariate Cox analyses. Results: Based on differential analysis of TCGA database, 854 genes were differentially expressed in HCC, any of which might link to the occurrence and progression of HCC. Meanwhile, joint analysis of HCC-related gene expression datasets in the GEO database screened 214 genes. Five core genes CDC20, TOP2A, RRM2, UBE2C and AOX1 were significantly associated with the prognosis of HCC patients and the risk model based on these five genes effectively predicted the prognosis of HCC patients. Conclusion: Collectively, our data suggest that CDC20, TOP2A, RRM2, UBE2C and AOX1 may be the key genes affecting the prognosis of patients with HCC. The five-gene signature could accurately predict the prognosis of HCC patients.