Abstract
Objectives:
The present study aimed to develop a gene signature based on the ESTIMATE algorithm in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and explore possible cancer promoters.
Methods:
The ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT algorithms were applied to calculate the immune/stromal scores and the proportion of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs) in a cohort of HCC patients. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened by Cox proportional hazards regression analysis and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction. Cyclin B1 (CCNB1) function was verified using experiments.
Results:
The stromal and immune scores were associated with clinicopathological factors and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in HCC patients. In total, 546 DEGs were up-regulated in low score groups, 127 of which were associated with RFS. CCNB1 was regarded as the most predictive factor closely related to prognosis of HCC and could be a cancer promoter. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and CIBERSORT analyses indicated that CCNB1 levels influenced HCC tumor microenvironment (TME) immune activity.
Conclusions:
The ESTIMATE signature can be used as a prognosis tool in HCC. CCNB1 is a tumor promoter and contributes to TME status conversion.
Keywords:
CCNB1; Hepatocellular carcinoma; prognostic biomarker; recurrence; survival; tumor microenvironment.