Role of STX6 as a prognostic factor associated with immune infiltration in hepatocellular carcinoma

Syntaxin 6 (STX6), a soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor-activating receptor protein, has formed an increasing part of cancer research. However, to the best of our knowledge, the role of STX6 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still unclear. In the present study, data from multiple bioinformatics databases, including The Cancer Genome Atlas, Gene Expression Omnibus, Kaplan-Meier plotter, Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) and Gene Expression Profiling Integrative Analysis (GEPIA2), and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were utilized to assess the role of STX6 in HCC. The results demonstrated that STX6 expression was upregulated in HCC tissues compared with normal tissues. STX6 expression was significantly associated with tumor size, Edmondson grade and α-fetoprotein (AFP) level. Furthermore, survival analysis demonstrated that high STX6 expression was significantly associated with poor prognosis in patients with HCC. Furthermore, assessment of the immune infiltrates demonstrated that CD163 expression was positively correlated with the STX6 level when analyzed using the TIMER and GEPIA2 databases. IHC results further demonstrated this association. Furthermore, compared with the typically used AFP, STX6 could have an improved diagnostic value in the diagnosis of HCC. In conclusion, STX6 expression was not only positively associated with poor prognosis but may also be involved in the immune inflammatory reaction in HCC. STX6 may become a potential therapeutic and diagnosis maker for patients with HCC.