Using Bioinformatics Techniques To Explore Hepatocellular Carcinoma Biomarkers And Build Prognostic Models

Background:The chemokine-like factor(CKLF)-like MARVEL transmembrane domaincontaining(CMTM)family refers to an updated gene family involved in diverse pathophysiological processes.However,the effect exerted by CMTM family members(CMTMs)in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is still elusive.Methods:Herein,to elucidate the expression,prognostic value,and immune roles of CMTMs in HCC,a comprehensive bioinformatic analysis was carried out.Results:Our findings showed that CKLF,CMTM1,CMTM3-4,and CMTM7-8 displayed higher mRNA expression levels in HCC tissues than in normal tissues,yet CMTM2,CMTM5,and CMTM6 were lower in HCC tissues.The levels of CKLF,CMTM1,CMTM2,and CMTM4 were related to tumor stage.Survival analysis showed that high levels of CKLF,CMTM1,CMTM4,and CMTM6-7 were associated with short overall survival(OS).Conversely,a high CMTM5 level was associated with prolonged OS in HCC patients.We also found that CKLF,CMTM1-4,and CMTM6-7 were closely correlated with immune infiltration amidst the HCC microenvironment.Conclusion:This study indicates that CMTMs exert a crucial effect on HCC microenvironment remodeling.CKLF,CMTM1,CMTM4,and CMTM6-7 are potential targets of precision therapy,and CMTM5 is a tumor-suppressive gene that can serve as a new negative prognostic biomarker in HCC.Background:Stromal and immune cells play important roles in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)development and progression.However,tools for predicting the prognosis of patients with HCC based on stromal and immune scores are not well established.We aimed to develop nomograms that predicted the disease-free survival(DFS)and overall survival(OS)of patients after radical surgery.Methods:Basic information of 251 patients were retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas.Multivariate Cox analyses identified variables predicting the prognosis of patients.DFS and OS nomograms were constructed based on the stromal and immune scores of the training group and verified in the well-matched test group.Results:An intermediate stromal score[hazard ratio(HR)=3.177,P<0.001]was an independent risk factor for DFS.An intermediate immune score independently predicted a longer DFS(HR=0.323,P=0.002)and OS(HR=0.305,P=0.021);a high immune score predicted a longer DFS(HR=0.289,P=0.002).The concordance index(C-index)of nomograms was 0.729 for DFS and 0.696 for OS in the test group.Conclusion:Nomograms based on the stromal and immune scores favorably predicted the DFS and OS of patients with HCC after radical surgery.