Innovative signature establishment using lymphangiogenesis-related lncRNA pairs to predict prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a major tumoral burden globally, and its heterogeneity encumbers prognostic prediction. The lymphangiogenesis-related long non-coding RNAs (lrlncRNAs) reported to be implicated in immune response regulation show potential importance in predicting the prognostic and therapeutic outcome. Hence, this study aims to establish a lrlncRNA pairs-based signature not requiring specific expression levels of transcripts, which displays promising clinical practicality and satisfactory predictive capability. MAIN METHODS: Transcriptomic and clinical information of the Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma (LIHC) project retrieved from the TCGA portal were used to find differently expressed lrlncRNA (DElrlncRNA) via analysis performed between lymphangiogenesis-related genes (lr-genes) and lncRNAs(lrlncRNA), and to ultimately construct the signature based on lrlncRNA pairs screened out via Lasso and Cox regression analyses. Akaike information criterion (AIC) values were computed to find the cut-off point optimum for high-risk and low-risk group allocation. The signature then underwent trials in terms of its predictive value for survival, clinicopathological features, immune cells infiltration in tumoral microenvironment, selected checkpoint biomarkers and chemosensitivity. KEY FINDINGS: A novel lymphangiogenesis-related lncRNA pair signature was established using nine lrlncRNA pairs identified and significantly related to overall survival, clinicopathological features, immune cells infiltration and susceptibility to chemotherapy. Moreover, the signature efficacy was verified in acknowledged clinicopathological subgroups and partially validated by qRT-PCR assay in various human HCC cell lines. SIGNIFICANCE: The novel lrlncRNA-pairs based signature was shown to effectively and independently estimate HCC prognosis and help screen patients suitable for anti-tumor immunotherapy and chemotherapy.