Value of STMN1 as a prognostic indicator and predictor of immune treatment response in hepatocellular carcinoma

LIU Shuyan; DING Ying; WU Yichen; SHEN Yi; YANG Qichang; LIU Hongbin

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1007-8096.2025.11.1444

Abstract：Objective To investigate the prognostic value of microtubule depolymerisation protein 1(Stathmin 1,STMN1)in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)and its impact on immunotherapy response.Methods Integrate databases such as TCGA,GTEx,and CPTAC,combining single-cell and spatial transcriptomics data were used to analyze the expression characteristics of STMN1 in HCC;the association between STMN1 expression and patient prognosis were evaluated in HCC using forest plots,Kaplan-Meier curves,and ROC analysis;its prognostic value for HCC was determined through univariate and multivariate Cox regression.Stromal scores and the TIMER database were utilized to elucidate the relationship between STMN1 and the immune microenvironment of HCC;the TIDE algorithm was used to predict the impact of STMN1 expression on the therapeutic response to immune checkpoint inhibitors(ICIs).STMN1 expression was detected in 100 cases of HCC and normal tissues via immunohistochemical staining to analyze its correlation with clinical pathological features of HCC patients.Results Comprehensive analysis found that STMN1 was highly expressed in HCC tissues;High expression of STMN1 was closely related to poorer prognosis and could serve as an independent prognostic factor for HCC.STMN1 expression was negatively correlated with the stromal score but positively correlated with various immune cells and regulatory genes.The response rate to immunotherapy was significantly higher in the low STMN1 expression group than that in the high STMN1 expression group.Immunohistochemical results confirmed that STMN1 was highly expressed in HCC tissues,which was significantly associated with moderately differentiated tumor and diameter in HCC(P<0.05),but not significantly correlated with gender and age(P>0.05).Conclusion STMN1 is a valuable biomarker for predicting the prognosis and immune therapy response of HCC,which can provide new directions for the prognosis and treatment of HCC.