HSPB11 is a Prognostic Biomarker Associated with Immune Infiltrates in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Purpose Heat shock proteins (HSPs) play important roles in oncogenesis and malignant progression. HSPB11 is highly expressed in many malignant tumors, but research on its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is insufficient. Patients and Methods A comprehensive analysis of HSPB11 in HCC was performed based on data of patients with HCC and those from online public databases. Results HSPB11 was overexpressed in HCC, with a high discrimination ability between tumor and normal tissues (area under the curve =0.923). HSPB11 overexpression correlated with advanced tumor stage, poorer tumor differentiation, and worse prognosis and was an independent risk factor for HCC prognosis. The nomogram and calibration models composed of HSPB11, T stage, and M stage had good abilities to predict the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of patients. HSPB11 was determined to be involved in multiple oncogenic processes, including cell cycle checkpoints, the G2M checkpoint, E2F targets, Rho GTPases, and KRAS signaling. HSPB11 expression was related to immune cell infiltration, especially that of Th2 cells and dendritic cells. Conclusion HSPB11 is involved in oncogenesis and immune regulation in HCC and is a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target.

Predictive and Prognostic Relevance of Tumor-Infiltrating Immune Cells: Tailoring Personalized Treatments against Different Cancer Types

“…Several studies presented novel findings by establishing a noteworthy association between elevated levels of immune gene biomarkers and an unfavorable outcome in patients diagnosed with different cancers. In most cases, expression of a particular immune gene biomarker shows poor prognosis [136][137][138][139][140]; however, in certain cases [141,142], high expression relates to favorable prognostic outcomes (Table 1). Some immune biomarkers showed unfavorable prognosis in certain cancers but showed favorable prognoses (Table 1) in different cancers [136,137,143].…”

Establishment and Clinical Application of the Nomogram Related to Risk or Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Review

“…These genes are involved in cuproptosis, 38 mitochondrial function, 39 immune infiltration, 40 pyroptosis, 41 m6A methyltransferase modification, 42 DNA repair, 43 etc. There are well-known PD-L1 44 and VEGFA 45 related to the prognosis of HCC, as well as MPV17 39 and HSPB11 46 that are less studied. Some genes are related not only to OS, but also to RFS, such as RPS3A 25 and APOA4.…”