Identification of an immune-related RNA-binding protein signature to predict survival and targeted therapy responses in liver cancer.

ABSTRACT

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play crucial roles in multiple cancers. However, very few RBPs and their association with immune genes have been systematically studied in liver cancer (LC). We aimed to identify an immune-related RBP signature to predict the survival of LC patients. Bioinformatics methods were used to identify differentially expressed, immune-related, and prognostic RBPs and to develop an immune-related RBP signature based on data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort. We obtained eight differentially expressed, immune-related, and prognostic RBPs to construct a risk signature. The signature could effectively distinguish between high- and low-risk patients, and its predictive capacity was validated in the International Cancer Genomics Consortium (ICGC) cohort. We speculated that the high-risk group was more sensitive to targeted therapy. The immune-related RBP signature is an independent prognostic biomarker for LC patients and can expand the application of targeted therapy through patient stratification.