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Updated: Aug 8, 2025
Author Spotlight: Investigating Immune Cell Dynamics in the Tumor Microenvironment — Challenges and Innovations in Cancer Prognosis
Published on: April 12, 2024
Development of Prognostic Features of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on Metabolic Gene Classification and Immune and
Shimeng Cui1, Minghao Zhang2, Shanshan Bai3
1Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116000, China.
Background:
The molecular classification of HCC premised on metabolic genes might give assistance for diagnosis, therapy, prognosis prediction, immune infiltration, and oxidative stress in addition to supplementing the limitations of the clinical staging system. This would help to better represent the deeper features of HCC.
Methods:
TCGA datasets combined with GSE14520 and HCCDB18 datasets were used to determine the metabolic subtype (MC) using ConsensusClusterPlus. ssGSEA method was used to calculate the IFNγ score, the oxidative stress pathway scores, and the score distribution of 22 distinct immune cells, and their differential expressions were assessed with the use of CIBERSORT. To generate a subtype classification feature index, LDA was utilized. Screening of the metabolic gene coexpression modules was done with the help of WGCNA.
Results:
Three MCs (MC1, MC2, and MC3) were identified and showed different prognoses (MC2-poor and MC1-better). Although MC2 had a high immune microenvironment infiltration, T cell exhaustion markers were expressed at a high level in MC2 in contrast with MC1. Most oxidative stress-related pathways are inhibited in the MC2 subtype and activated in the MC1 subtype. The immunophenotyping of pan-cancer showed that the C1 and C2 subtypes with poor prognosis accounted for significantly higher proportions of MC2 and MC3 subtypes than MC1, while the better prognostic C3 subtype accounted for significantly lower proportions of MC2 than MC1. As per the findings of the TIDE analysis, MC1 had a greater likelihood of benefiting from immunotherapeutic regimens. MC2 was found to have a greater sensitivity to traditional chemotherapy drugs. Finally, 7 potential gene markers indicate HCC prognosis.
Conclusion:
The difference (variation) in tumor microenvironment and oxidative stress among metabolic subtypes of HCC was compared from multiple angles and levels. A complete and thorough clarification of the molecular pathological properties of HCC, the exploration of reliable markers for diagnosis, the improvement of the cancer staging system, and the guiding of individualized treatment of HCC all gain benefit greatly from molecular classification associated with metabolism.
