New prognostic biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma

Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified in GSE74656 and GSE84598. (A) Venn diagram of the overlapping DEGs between GSE74656 and GSE84598. (B) Protein-protein interactions network of 138 SDEGs. Orange nodes have the high-est degree while blue nodes have the lowest degree. The smaller the edge, the lower the combined score. (C) The top 10 hub genes screened using the Cytohubbo module in Cytoscape. Darker node color indicates a higher score.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly malignant tumor. Previous studies have shown that lots of genes are involved in the development of HCC and may be used as prognostic biomarkers of HCC. However, there are still few specific biomarkers used in the clinical treatment of HCC. Therefore, the group of researchers tried to find biomarkers related to prognosis of HCC and guide the clinical treatment and the management of HCC patients after treatment.

In the study published in BJBMS, the gene expression data and clinical data of HCC patients were downloaded from public databases to screen hub genes associated with HCC prognosis, and then the researchers validated the expression levels of prognostic hub genes in HCC tissues. A total of 8 hub genes CENPE, SPDL1, HMMR, RACGAP1, TRIP13, CKAP2, CKAP5 and ITGB3BP were identified as prognostic hub genes and independent prognostic factors for HCC. The 8-hub genes model has better prediction performance than the T-staging system in prognosis prediction of HCC patients. One of the prognostic hub genes, ITGB3BP was upregulated in HCC, and the high expression of ITGB3BP was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis.

This study provides important clues for prognosis and precise treatment of HCC. However, further research is needed, because no experimental study in vitro or in vivo was conducted to investigate the role and mechanism of some of the genes in HCC.

Reference:

Liang Q, Tan C, Xiao F, Yin F, Liu M, Lei L, Wu L, Yang Y, Tan HJJ, Liu S, Zeng X. Integrated profiling identifies ITGB3BP as prognostic biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma. Bosn J of Basic Med Sci. 2021. Available from: https://www.bjbms.org/ojs/index.php/bjbms/article/view/5690
Editor: Edna Skopljak, MD

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