Prognostic and predictive value of the hypoxia-associated long non-coding RNA signature in hepatocellular carcinoma.

ABSTRACT

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common cancer worldwide. Hypoxia is an important feature of solid tumors, including HCC, and is also an important factor involved in malignancy progression. However, the identification of hypoxia-related long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs) and their prognostic value in HCC have not been systematically investigated. The aim of this study is to identify the features based on the hypoxia-related lncRNAs and evaluate their predictive value for HCC prognosis. Based on the integrated analysis of HCC transcriptome data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we had identified 233 potential hypoxia-related lncRNAs. We further evaluated the prognostic value of these lncRNAs and optimally established a 12-lncRNA (AC012676.1, PRR7-AS1, AC020915.2, AC008622.2, AC026401.3, MAPKAPK5-AS1, MYG1-AS1, AC015908.3, AC009275.1, MIR210HG, CYTOR and SNHG3) prognostic risk model. The Cox proportional hazards regression analysis revealed that the hypoxia risk score is a novel independent prognostic predictor for HCC patients, which outperforms the traditional clinical pathological factors. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) showed that the hypoxia risk score reflects the activation of biological features related to cell proliferation and the inactivation of lipid metabolism processes. In summary, we had constructed a risk score model based on 12 hypoxia-related lncRNAs, which might be a promising prognostic predictor for HCC patients and highlight their potential roles in the prevention and treatment of this malignancy.