Construction of a Risk Prognosis Model for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on Immune Genes

TANG Qianhui; XIE Mingshui

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2096-305X.2025.01.004

Abstract：Objective This study aims to perform immune molecular subtyping of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC),investigate its microenvironment characteristics and functions,screen for prognostic-related genes,construct a prognostic model,and explore its clinical,immune,and therapeutic characteristics.Methods The single sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis(ssGSEA)method was used to score immune pathways in HCC,followed by hierarchical clustering analysis based on these scores.Differentially expressed genes of immune subtypes were analyzed,and immune-related differentially expressed genes were identified according to immune genes downloaded from ImmPort database.Univariate Cox regression and Lasso regression analyses were performed to identify prognostic-related genes and construct an immune risk score prognostic model.The model's prognostic value,immune infiltration characteristics,clinical characteristics,and drug sensitivity were analyzed.Results Using the ssGSEA algorithm,high immune and low immune groups were identified,and 1433 differentially expressed genes were screened.Cross-referencing with the ImmPort database identified 265 immune-related differentially expressed genes.Through Cox and Lasso regression analyses,16 prognostic-related genes were identified,and a risk prognostic model was constructed.Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the overall survival of the low-risk group was significantly better than that of the high-risk group.The model's area under the curve(AUC)for predicting 1-year,3-year,and 5-year overall survival performed well in both the training and validation sets.Conclusion This study identified two immune subtypes and constructed an HCC risk prognostic model based on immune prognostic genes.This model can evaluate the immune microenvironment of HCC,clarify tumor immune phenotypes,and guide clinical practice and personalized immunotherapy.