Multi-omic analyses of hepatocellular carcinoma to determine immunological characteristics and key nodes in gene-expression network

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor worldwide, but effective immunotherapy is still limited for those affected. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore the specific mechanisms governing tumor immunity to improve the survival rate for those diagnosed with HCC. In the present study, we performed a new immune stratification of HCC samples into two subclasses (A and B) from The Cancer Genome Atlas and the International Cancer Genome Consortium databases, and comprehensive multi-omic analyses of major histocompatibility complex genes, gene copy-number variations, somatic mutations, DNA methylation, and non-coding RNAs. Subclass A was found to have a higher survival rate compared with subclass B, and there were significant immunological differences between the two clusters. Based on these differences, we identified DRD1 and MYCN as key hub genes in the immune-phenotype gene expression regulatory network. These results provide novel ideas and evidence for HCC regulatory mechanisms that may improve immunotherapy for this cancer.