Competing endogenous RNA network and prognostic nomograms for hepatocellular carcinoma patients who underwent R0 resection

Abstract

The prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after R0 resection is unsatisfactory due to the high rate of recurrence. In this study, we investigated the recurrence-related RNAs and the underlying mechanism. The long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), microRNA (miRNA), and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression data and clinical information of 247 patients who underwent R0 resection patients with HCC were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Comparing the 1-year recurrence group (n = 56) with the nonrecurrence group (n = 60), we detected 34 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs), five DEmiRNAs, and 216 DEmRNAs. Of these, three DElncRNAs, hsamir-150-5p, and 11 DEmRNAs were selected for constructing the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network. Next, two nomogram models were constructed based separately on the lncRNAs and mRNAs that were further selected by Cox and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression analysis. The two nomogram models that showed a high prediction accuracy for disease-free survival with the concordance indexes at 0.725 and 0.639. Further functional enrichment analysis of DEmRNAs showed that the mRNAs in the ceRNA network and nomogram models were associated with immune pathways. Hence, we constructed a hsa-mir-150-5p-centric ceRNA network and two effective nomogram prognostic models, and the related RNAs may be useful as potential biomarkers for predicting recurrence in patients with HCC.

<p>Novel Prognostic Nomograms for Predicting Early and Late Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Curative Hepatectomy</p>

“…As shown in Tables 4 and 5, in current predictive models or scoring systems of HCC recurrence after hepatectomy, MVI is simply classified as present or absent. 13,16,17,19,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]30,32,34 Some studies do not even evaluate MVI. 12,14,15,18,29,31,33,36,39 Considering the potential role of MVI in predicting the recurrence of HCC in patients following hepatectomy, MVI absence (M0) was used as a reference indicator in our study.…”

“…14,15,20,29,35,36 In some cases, predictive analyses are performed using an indicator of disease-free survival (DFS). 12,14,[16][17][18][19][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][31][32][33][34] Some investigators have suggested using the time to recurrence, rather than recurrence-free survival, as the endpoint to predict and evaluate ER after HCC resection. 41 Second, these systems tend to only be used for specific populations, limiting interpretation or the detection of consistent patterns across groups.…”

Integrated analysis of competing endogenous RNA networks in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of systemic lupus erythematosus

“…ceRNA networks modify or control the expression of key genes in many diseases. For instance, ceRNA network analysis has been mostly used in cancer research [ 49 ]. With ceRNA studies extending to autoimmune diseases, many important molecules and key signalling networks have been unveiled, such as the Jak-STAT signalling pathway [ 17 ], complement and coagulation cascades [ 50 ], and apoptosis[ 45 ].…”

Identification of Prognostic Biomarkers and Correlation With Immune Infiltrates in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on a Competing Endogenous RNA Network

“…In recent years, the prevalence of HCC is gradually increasing, especially in non-traditional high incidence areas, such as the United States and Europe. Most HCC patients are likely to be diagnosed at an advanced stage since HCC is asymptomatic at early stages, and effective biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognostic prediction are lacking ( Lei et al, 2019 ; Li et al, 2019b ; Liu et al, 2019 ). Currently, the main treatments for HCC include radiofrequency ablation, surgical resection, immunotherapy, and liver implantation, among others.…”