Title:Construction of an Oxidative Stress Risk Model to Analyze the Correlation Between Liver Cancer and Tumor Immunity
Volume: 25
Issue: 1
Author(s): Ying Liu, Yufeng Li, Li Chen, Weina Zha, Jing Zhang, Kun Wang, Chunhai Hao and Jianhe Gan*
Affiliation:
- Department of Infectious Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Keywords:
Hepatocellular carcinoma, oxidative stress, prognosis, risk model, tumor immunity, liver cancer.
Abstract:
Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains one of the most lethal cancers
globally. Despite advancements in immunotherapy, the prognosis for patients with HCC continues
to be poor. As oxidative stress plays a significant role in the onset and progression of various diseases,
including metabolism-related HCC, comprehending its mechanism in HCC is critical for effective
diagnosis and treatment.
Methods: This study utilized the TCGA dataset and a collection of oxidative stress genes to identify
the expression of oxidative stress-related genes in HCC and their association with overall survival
using diverse bioinformatics methods. A novel prognostic risk model was developed, and the
TCGA cohort was divided into high-risk and low-risk groups based on each tumor sample's risk
score. Levels of immune cell infiltration and the expression of immune checkpoint-related genes
in different risk subgroups were analyzed to investigate the potential link between tumor immunity
and oxidative stress-related features. The expression of model genes in actual samples was validated
through immunohistochemistry, and their mRNA and protein expression levels were measured
in cell cultures.
Results: Four oxidative stress-related genes (EZH2, ANKZF1, G6PD, and HMOX1) were identified
and utilized to create a predictive risk model for HCC patient overall survival, which was subsequently
validated in an independent cohort. A correlation was found between the expression of
these prognostic genes and the infiltration of tumor immune cells. Elevated expression of EZH2,
ANKZF1, G6PD, and HMOX1 was observed in both HCC tissues and cell lines.
Conclusion: The combined assessment of EZH2, ANKZF1, G6PD, and HMOX1 gene expression
can serve as an oxidative stress risk model for assessing HCC prognosis. Furthermore, there is a
correlation between the expression of these risk model genes and tumor immunity.
