The Landscape of Iron metabolism-related Genes for Overall survival prediction in Patients with Hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the seventh most commonly occurring cancer and the second most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Despite improvements in early detection and treatment, the morbidity and mortality remain high because of complex molecular mechanisms and cellular heterogeneity in HCC. However, novel model is still needed to predict the survival and clinical immunotherapy response in HCC.Methods 13 iron metabolism-related gene sets were identified from the GSEA. DEGs associated with iron metabolism were calculated between patients who survived < 1 year and more than 3 years for subsequent analysis. Univariate cox proportional hazard regression and LASSO analysis were performed to construct a gene signature. The Kaplan–Meier analysis, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC), Univariate and Multivariate Cox regression analysis, stratification analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) analysis were used to assess the prognostic value of the gene signature. Furthermore, the reliability and validity were validated in external testing cohort, internal testing cohort. Moreover, Weighted gene co-expression network analysis(WGCNA), Gene set enrichment analysis(GSEA), Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG analysis were performed to reveal signaling pathways, and two independent prognostic factors were combined to build Nomogram for predicting HCC prognosis. Finally, expression level of genes of gene signature in clinical samples was performed using quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses.Results Here we established a gene signature using iron metabolism-related genes form the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the survival outcomes were validated from International Cancer Genome Consortium(ICGC). Distinct subtypes (high- and low-risk subtypes) were characterized by different clinical outcomes. The high-risk subtype was featured by better survival outcomes, upregulated cell cycle relevant pathways and better response for immunotherapy.Conclusions Our finding suggested that the novel model may be useful as a biomarker for prognostic predication, immunotherapy and cell cycle inhibitors may be efficacious for high-risk subtype of HCC patients.

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The Landscape of Iron metabolism-related Genes for Overall survival prediction in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

10.21203/rs.3.rs-264542/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Zhipeng Zhu ◽

Huang Cao ◽

Heqing Huang ◽

Hongliang Zhan ◽

Zhengsheng Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Cell Cycle ◽

T Cell ◽

High Risk ◽

Iron Metabolism ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Cancer Genome ◽

Survival Outcomes ◽

Survival Prediction ◽

Novel Model

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the seventh most commonly occurring cancer and the second most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Despite improvements in early detection and treatment, the morbidity and mortality remain high because of complex molecular mechanisms and cellular heterogeneity in HCC. Immunotherapy therapies have been identified to be an effective treatment strategy for HCC. However, novel model is still needed to predict the survival and clinical immunotherapy response in HCC. Here we established a gene signature using iron metabolism-related genes form the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the survival outcomes were validated from International Cancer Genome Consortium(ICGC). Distinct subtypes (high- and low-risk subtypes) were characterized by different clinical outcomes. The high-risk subtype was featured by better survival outcomes, upregulation of immune checkpoints expression, including programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4(CTLA-4) expression, T-cell immunoglobulin mucin 3(TIM-3) expression and T cell Ig and ITIM domain (TIGIT) expression, upregulated cell cycle relevant pathways and better response for immunotherapy. Thus our finding suggested that the novel model may be useful as a biomarker for prognostic predication, immunotherapy and cell cycle inhibitors may be efficacious for high-risk subtype of HCC patients.

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Identification of Aging-Related Genes Associated With Clinical and Prognostic Features of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Frontiers in Genetics ◽

10.3389/fgene.2021.661988 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Xingte Chen ◽

Lei Wang ◽

Liang Hong ◽

Zhixiong Su ◽

Xiaohong Zhong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Regression Analysis ◽

High Risk ◽

Risk Score ◽

Cancer Genome ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

Differentially Expressed ◽

Survival Prediction ◽

Lasso Regression ◽

Prognostic Features

Background: Aging is a well-studied concept, but no studies have comprehensively analyzed the association between aging-related genes (AGs) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prognosis.Methods: Gene candidates were selected from differentially expressed genes and prognostic genes in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. A gene risk score for overall survival prediction was established using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis, and this was validated using data from the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) database. Functional analysis was conducted using gene ontology enrichment, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis, gene set enrichment analysis, and immune microenvironment and tumor stemness analyses.Results: Initially, 72 AGs from the TCGA database were screened as differentially expressed between normal and tumor tissues and as genes associated with HCC prognosis. Then, seven AGs (POLA1, CDK1, SOCS2, HDAC1, MAPT, RAE1, and EEF1E1) were identified using the LASSO regression analysis. The seven AGs were used to develop a risk score in the training set, and the risk was validated to have a significant prognostic value in the ICGC set (p < 0.05). Patients with high risk scores had lower tumor differentiation, higher stage, and worse prognosis (all p < 0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analyses also confirmed that the risk score was an independent prognostic factor for HCC in both the TCGA and ICGC sets (all p < 0.05). Further analysis showed that a high risk score was correlated with the downregulation of metabolism and tumor immunity.Conclusion: The risk score predicts HCC prognosis and could thus be used as a biomarker not only for predicting HCC prognosis but also for deciding on treatment.

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Comprehensive analysis reveals a metabolic ten-gene signature in hepatocellular carcinoma

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.9201 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. e9201

Author(s):

Zhipeng Zhu ◽

Lulu Li ◽

Jiuhua Xu ◽

Weipeng Ye ◽

Borong Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Gene Signature ◽

Cancer Genome ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

Survival Prediction ◽

Biological Processes ◽

Cox Regression Analysis ◽

Diagnostic Capability

Background Due to the complicated molecular and cellular heterogeneity in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the morbidity and mortality still remains high level in the world. However, the number of novel metabolic biomarkers and prognostic models could be applied to predict the survival of HCC patients is still small. In this study, we constructed a metabolic gene signature by systematically analyzing the data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC). Methods Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between tumors and paired non-tumor samples of 50 patients from TCGA dataset were calculated for subsequent analysis. Univariate cox proportional hazard regression and LASSO analysis were performed to construct a gene signature. The Kaplan–Meier analysis, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC), Univariate and Multivariate Cox regression analysis, stratification analysis were used to assess the prognostic value of the gene signature. Furthermore, the reliability and validity were validated in four types of testing cohorts. Moreover, the diagnostic capability of the gene signature was investigated to further explore the clinical significance. Finally, Go enrichment analysis and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) have been performed to reveal the different biological processes and signaling pathways which were active in high risk or low risk group. Results Ten prognostic genes were identified and a gene signature were constructed to predict overall survival (OS). The gene signature has demonstrated an excellent ability for predicting survival prognosis. Univariate and Multivariate analysis revealed the gene signature was an independent prognostic factor. Furthermore, stratification analysis indicated the model was a clinically and statistically significant for all subgroups. Moreover, the gene signature demonstrated a high diagnostic capability in differentiating normal tissue and HCC. Finally, several significant biological processes and pathways have been identified to provide new insights into the development of HCC. Conclusion The study have identified ten metabolic prognostic genes and developed a prognostic gene signature to provide more powerful prognostic information and improve the survival prediction for HCC.

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Identification of a five-gene signature in association with overall survival for hepatocellular carcinoma

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.11273 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

pp. e11273

Author(s):

Lei Yang ◽

Weilong Yin ◽

Xuechen Liu ◽

Fangcun Li ◽

Li Ma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Cell Cycle ◽

Overall Survival ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Gene Signature ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

Enrichment Score ◽

Hub Genes ◽

Cox Regression Analysis

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered to be a malignant tumor with a high incidence and a high mortality. Accurate prognostic models are urgently needed. The present study was aimed at screening the critical genes for prognosis of HCC. Methods The GSE25097, GSE14520, GSE36376 and GSE76427 datasets were obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). We used GEO2R to screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs). A protein-protein interaction network of the DEGs was constructed by Cytoscape in order to find hub genes by module analysis. The Metascape was performed to discover biological functions and pathway enrichment of DEGs. MCODE components were calculated to construct a module complex of DEGs. Then, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used for gene enrichment analysis. ONCOMINE was employed to assess the mRNA expression levels of key genes in HCC, and the survival analysis was conducted using the array from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) of HCC. Then, the LASSO Cox regression model was performed to establish and identify the prognostic gene signature. We validated the prognostic value of the gene signature in the TCGA cohort. Results We screened out 10 hub genes which were all up-regulated in HCC tissue. They mainly enrich in mitotic cell cycle process. The GSEA results showed that these data sets had good enrichment score and significance in the cell cycle pathway. Each candidate gene may be an indicator of prognostic factors in the development of HCC. However, hub genes expression was weekly associated with overall survival in HCC patients. LASSO Cox regression analysis validated a five-gene signature (including CDC20, CCNB2, NCAPG, ASPM and NUSAP1). These results suggest that five-gene signature model may provide clues for clinical prognostic biomarker of HCC.

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A Starvation-Based 9-mRNA Signature Correlates With Prognosis in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Frontiers in Oncology ◽

10.3389/fonc.2021.716757 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Dengliang Lei ◽

Yue Chen ◽

Yang Zhou ◽

Gangli Hu ◽

Fang Luo

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

High Risk ◽

Liver Cancer ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Clinical Information ◽

Cancer Genome ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

Biological Processes ◽

Gene Set Enrichment

BackgroundHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the world’s most prevalent and lethal cancers. Notably, the microenvironment of tumor starvation is closely related to cancer malignancy. Our study constructed a signature of starvation-related genes to predict the prognosis of liver cancer patients.MethodsThe mRNA expression matrix and corresponding clinical information of HCC patients were obtained from the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to distinguish different genes in the hunger metabolism gene in liver cancer and adjacent tissues. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was used to identify biological differences between high- and low-risk samples. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to construct prognostic models for hunger-related genes. Kaplan-Meier (KM) and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) were used to assess the model accuracy. The model and relevant clinical information were used to construct a nomogram, protein expression was detected by western blot (WB), and transwell assay was used to evaluate the invasive and metastatic ability of cells.ResultsFirst, we used univariate analysis to identify 35 prognostic genes, which were further demonstrated to be associated with starvation metabolism through Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO). We then used multivariate analysis to build a model with nine genes. Finally, we divided the sample into low- and high-risk groups according to the median of the risk score. KM can be used to conclude that the prognosis of high- and low-risk samples is significantly different, and the prognosis of high-risk samples is worse. The prognostic accuracy of the 9-mRNA signature was also tested in the validation data set. GSEA was used to identify typical pathways and biological processes related to 9-mRNA, cell cycle, hypoxia, p53 pathway, and PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, as well as biological processes related to the model. As evidenced by WB, EIF2S1 expression was increased after starvation. Overall, EIF2S1 plays an important role in the invasion and metastasis of liver cancer.ConclusionsThe 9-mRNA model can serve as an accurate signature to predict the prognosis of liver cancer patients. However, its mechanism of action warrants further investigation.

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A Nomogram Based on a Three-Gene Signature Derived from AATF Coexpressed Genes Predicts Overall Survival of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2020/7310768 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Jun Liu ◽

Jianjun Lu ◽

Zhanzhong Ma ◽

Wenli Li

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Overall Survival ◽

Clinical Practice ◽

Correlation Coefficient ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Prognostic Significance ◽

Gene Signature ◽

Cancer Genome ◽

Survival Prediction

Background. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common cancer with an extremely high mortality rate. Therefore, there is an urgent need in screening key biomarkers of HCC to predict the prognosis and develop more individual treatments. Recently, AATF is reported to be an important factor contributing to HCC. Methods. We aimed to establish a gene signature to predict overall survival of HCC patients. Firstly, we examined the expression level of AATF in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the International Union of Cancer Genome (ICGC) databases. Genes coexpressed with AATF were identified in the TCGA dataset by the Poisson correlation coefficient and used to establish a gene signature for survival prediction. The prognostic significance of this gene signature was then validated in the ICGC dataset and used to build a combined prognostic model for clinical practice. Results. Gene expression data and clinical information of 2521 HCC patients were downloaded from three public databases. AATF expression in HCC tissue was higher than that in matched normal liver tissues. 644 genes coexpressed with AATF were identified by the Poisson correlation coefficient and used to establish a three-gene signature (KIF20A, UCK2, and SLC41A3) by the univariate and multivariate least absolute shrinkage and selection operator Cox regression analyses. This three-gene signature was then used to build a combined nomogram for clinical practice. Conclusion. This integrated nomogram based on the three-gene signature can predict overall survival for HCC patients well. The three-gene signature may be a potential therapeutic target in HCC.

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A Novel Glucose Metabolism-Related Gene Signature for Overall Survival Prediction in Patients with Glioblastoma

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2021/8872977 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Chaocai Zhang ◽

Minjie Wang ◽

Fenghu Ji ◽

Yizhong Peng ◽

Bo Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Overall Survival ◽

High Risk ◽

Glucose Metabolism ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Gene Signature ◽

Low Risk ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

Survival Prediction ◽

Related Gene ◽

Cox Regression Analysis

Introduction. Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most frequent primary intracranial malignancies, with limited treatment options and poor overall survival rates. Alternated glucose metabolism is a key metabolic feature of tumour cells, including GBM cells. However, due to high cellular heterogeneity, accurately predicting the prognosis of GBM patients using a single biomarker is difficult. Therefore, identifying a novel glucose metabolism-related biomarker signature is important and may contribute to accurate prognosis prediction for GBM patients. Methods. In this research, we performed gene set enrichment analysis and profiled four glucose metabolism-related gene sets containing 327 genes related to biological processes. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were specifically completed to identify genes to build a specific risk signature, and we identified ten mRNAs (B4GALT7, CHST12, G6PC2, GALE, IL13RA1, LDHB, SPAG4, STC1, TGFBI, and TPBG) within the Cox proportional hazards regression model for GBM. Results. Depending on this glucose metabolism-related gene signature, we divided patients into high-risk (with poor outcomes) and low-risk (with satisfactory outcomes) subgroups. The results of the multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that the prognostic potential of this ten-gene signature is independent of clinical variables. Furthermore, we used two other GBM databases (Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) and REMBRANDT) to validate this model. In the functional analysis results, the risk signature was associated with almost every step of cancer progression, such as adhesion, proliferation, angiogenesis, drug resistance, and even an immune-suppressed microenvironment. Moreover, we found that IL31RA expression was significantly different between the high-risk and low-risk subgroups. Conclusion. The 10 glucose metabolism-related gene risk signatures could serve as an independent prognostic factor for GBM patients and might be valuable for the clinical management of GBM patients. The differential gene IL31RA may be a potential treatment target in GBM.

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Novel Biomarker NEDD1 and Its Analysis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1192410/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Xiaopeng Ding ◽

Jiahao Yu ◽

Xin Shi ◽

Kangwei Li ◽

Shuoyi Ma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Cell Cycle ◽

External Validation ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Cancer Genome ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

The Cancer Genome Atlas ◽

Related Data ◽

Significant Difference

Abstract Background: NEDD1 (NEDD1 Gamma-Tubulin Ring Complex Targeting Factor) plays a crucial impact in regulating cell cycle and the development of scirrhous gastric cancer. However, the role of NEDD1 hasn’t been reported in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) so far. The aim of this research is to explore the role of NEDD1 on the development and prognosis of HCC. Methods: HCC-related data were download from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) were conducted by the LinkedOmics database. Results: The expression of NEDD1 has significant difference between tumor and adjacent normal tissues in HCC (P＜0.01). We also found that NEDD1 was an independent risk factor in HCC patients (HR 1.643, 95%CI 1.125–2.398; P = 0.01). The study also demonstrated that NEDD1 expression was significantly relevant to the expression of several immune checkpoint genes, including CTLA-4, PD-L1 and PD-1. GSEA revealed that Cell cycle, MicroRNAs in cancer and Ribosome pathways were significantly enriched in NEDD1 overexpression phenotype. By integrating NEDD1 with other relevant factors, we constructed the prognostic nomogram to help the improvement of the prognosis for patients with HCC. The data from the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) database were used as an independent external validation of our prognostic model. Conclusion: The expression level of NEDD1 was negatively correlated to the prognosis of HCC patients and it may be a promising therapeutic target of HCC, which probably be able to predict the efficacy of immunotherapy for HCC patients.

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Construction and Validation of a Prognostic Gene-Based Model for Overall Survival Prediction in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using an Integrated Statistical and Bioinformatic Approach

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22041632 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 1632

Author(s):

Eskezeia Yihunie Dessie ◽

Siang-Jyun Tu ◽

Hui-Shan Chiang ◽

Jeffrey J.P. Tsai ◽

Ya-Sian Chang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

High Risk ◽

Risk Score ◽

Prognostic Model ◽

Gene Signature ◽

Adaptive Lasso ◽

Functional Enrichment ◽

Survival Prediction ◽

Prognostic Gene ◽

Prognostic Gene Signature

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common lethal cancers worldwide and is often related to late diagnosis and poor survival outcome. More evidence is demonstrating that gene-based prognostic models can be used to predict high-risk HCC patients. Therefore, our study aimed to construct a novel prognostic model for predicting the prognosis of HCC patients. We used multivariate Cox regression model with three hybrid penalties approach including least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso), adaptive lasso and elastic net algorithms for informative prognostic-related genes selection. Then, the best subset regression was used to identify the best prognostic gene signature. The prognostic gene-based risk score was constructed using the Cox coefficient of the prognostic gene signature. The model was evaluated by Kaplan–Meier (KM) and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analyses. A novel four-gene signature associated with prognosis was identified and the risk score was constructed based on the four-gene signature. The risk score efficiently distinguished the patients into a high-risk group with poor prognosis. The time-dependent ROC analysis revealed that the risk model had a good performance with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.780, 0.732, 0.733 in 1-, 2- and 3-year prognosis prediction in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Moreover, the risk score revealed a high diagnostic performance to classify HCC from normal samples. The prognosis and diagnosis prediction performances of risk scores were verified in external validation datasets. Functional enrichment analysis of the four-gene signature and its co-expressed genes involved in the metabolic and cell cycle pathways was constructed. Overall, we developed a novel-gene-based prognostic model to predict high-risk HCC patients and we hope that our findings can provide promising insight to explore the role of the four-gene signature in HCC patients and aid risk classification.

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Prognostic Power of a Chaperonin Containing TCP-1 Subunit Genes Panel for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Frontiers in Genetics ◽

10.3389/fgene.2021.668871 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Wenli Li ◽

Jun Liu ◽

Hetong Zhao

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Overall Survival ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Gene Signature ◽

Cancer Genome ◽

Medical Decision ◽

Survival Prediction ◽

Cox Regression Analysis ◽

T Complex

Chaperonin containing TCP-1 (T-complex protein 1) (CCT) is a large molecular weight complex that contains nine subunits (TCP1, CCT2, CCT3, CCT4, CCT5, CCT6A, CCT6B, CCT7, CCT8). This study aimed to reveal key genes which encode CCT subunits for prognosis and establish prognostic gene signatures based on CCT subunit genes. The data was downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas, International Cancer Genome Consortium and Gene Expression Omnibus. CCT subunit gene expression levels between tumor and normal tissues were compared. Corresponding Kaplan-Meier analysis displayed a distinct separation in the overall survival of CCT subunit genes. Correlation analysis, protein-protein interaction network, Gene Ontology analysis, immune cells infiltration analysis, and transcription factor network were performed. A nomogram was constructed for the prediction of prognosis. Based on multivariate Cox regression analysis and shrinkage and selection method for linear regression model, a three-gene signature comprising CCT4, CCT6A, and CCT6B was constructed in the training set and significantly associated with prognosis as an independent prognostic factor. The prognostic value of the signature was then validated in the validation and testing set. Nomogram including the signature showed some clinical benefit for overall survival prediction. In all, we built a novel three-gene signature and nomogram from CCT subunit genes to predict the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma, which may support the medical decision for HCC therapy.

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