Prognostic Value of an Immune Long NonCoding RNA Signature in Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the important role that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play in the immunological process of hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC). An increasing number of studies have shown that certain lncRNAs hold great potential as viable options for diagnosis and treatment in clinical practice. The primary objective of our investigation was to devise an immune lncRNA profile to explore the significance of immune-associated lncRNAs in the accurate diagnosis and prognosis of LIHC. Gene expression profiles of LIHC samples obtained from TCGA database were screened for immune-related genes. The optimal immune-related lncRNA signature was built via correlational analysis, univariate and multivariate Cox analysis. Then, the Kaplan-Meier plot, ROC curve, clinical analysis, gene set enrichment analysis, and principal component analysis were performed to evaluate the capability of the immune lncRNA signature as a prognostic indicator. Six long non-coding RNAs were identified via correlation analysis and Cox regression analysis considering their interactions with immune genes. Subsequently, tumor samples were categorized into two distinct risk groups based on different clinical outcomes. Stratification analysis indicated that the prognostic ability of this signature acted as an independent factor. The KaplanMeier method was employed to conduct survival analysis, results showed a significant difference between the two risk groups. The predictive performance of this signature was validated by principal component analysis (PCA). Additionally, data obtained from gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed several potential biological processes in which these biomarkers may be involved. To summarize, this study demonstrated that this six-lncRNA signature could be identified as a potential factor that can independently Liver hepatocellular carcinoma, a prevalent malignancy globally, exhibits escalating rates of mortality and incidence [1, 2]. The primary approach utilized in LIHC administration is surgery, however, many patients are in the middle-advanced stage at first diagnosis and miss the chance of accepting surgery [3-5]. In a broad sense, liver is classified as a lymphoid organ [6]. It has been documented that during tumor progression, immunological tolerance is influenced by various factors including cytokines, hepatic nonparenchymal cells, dendritic cells, and lymphocytes, which actively modulate this process [7-10]. Meanwhile, immunology therapy comprising immune checkpoints, adoptive cellular immunotherapy (ACT) and vaccines has presented promising possibilities for the treatment of liver cancer (LIHC). These advancements have significantly broadened the horizons of LIHC treatment [11, 12]. Several studies have clarified that clinical application of immune checkpoint blockade programmed cell death-1(PD-1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA4) has enhanced the survival rate of some advanced patients [13-15]. Consequently, there is an urgent requirement for the study of immune biomarkers that exhibit both high sensitivity and specificity in terms of diagnosing and predicting the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC). Long noncoding RNA is a type of poorly conserved RNA in length from 200 base pairs to 100 kilobase pairs. This particular RNA is capable of modulating gene expression at four primary levels: epigenetic regulation, epigenetic transcriptional regulation, posttranscriptional regulation and translational regulation [16-21]. According to their location with respect to protein-coding mRNAs, lncRNAs can be predict the prognosis of LIHC patients.