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Updated: Oct 9, 2025

Author Spotlight: Investigating Immune Cell Dynamics in the Tumor Microenvironment — Challenges and Innovations in Cancer Prognosis
Published on: April 12, 2024
NTF3 Correlates With Prognosis and Immune Infiltration in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Rongqiang Liu1,2, Rongqi Li3, Haoyuan Yu1
1Department of Hepatic Surgery and Liver Transplantation Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Abstract:
Background: The potential role of Neurotrophic factor-3(NTF3) in liver cancer is unknown. Therefore, we aimed to explore the clinical value of NTF3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: We used a variety of databases to analyze the expression, relationship with prognosis and immune significance of NTF3 in liver cancer through bioinformatics. Results: NTF3 was low expressed in HCC and was an independent prognostic factor in patients with HCC. CIBERSORT analysis indicated that NTF3 expression was positively correlated with CD4+ cells, mast cells, NK cells, macrophages and B cells in the tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, we found that NTF3 expression was negatively correlated with the immune checkpoints PD-L1, TIGIT and TIM-3. Functional network analysis revealed that NTF3 regulates HCC progression through a variety of cancer-related kinases, transcription factors and signaling pathways. Conclusions: We demonstrate that NTF3 correlates with prognosis and immune infiltration in HCC.

