Identification of tumor-specific neoantigens and immune clusters of hepatocellular carcinoma for mRNA vaccine development

BACKGROUND: To screen efficacious neoantigens for the development of LIHC mRNA vaccines, construct LIHC immune clusters, and therefore select patients who might benefit from vaccination. METHODS: RNA-seq data and clinical information of 371 TCGA-LIHC and 231 ICGC-LIHC cohorts were downloaded. Differentially expressed genes and their associations with prognosis were analyzed by GEPIA, genetic alterations were examined in the cBioPortal portal, and the association between genes and immune infiltrating cells was explored by TIMER. The immune clusters were constructed by consistency clustering, and the immune landscape was described using CIBERSORT. RESULTS: POLR3C and KPNA2 were identified as LIHC tumor neoantigens related to inferior prognosis and antigen-presenting cell infiltration. In addition, three immune clusters (IC1, IC2 and IC3) with significant differences in molecular, immune cytological, and clinical features were identified in both the TCGA and ICGC LIHC cohorts. Immune “hot” phenotype IC3 displayed a better survival than IC2, and immune “cold” phenotype IC1 exhibited a high tumor mutation burden. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, for the development of anti-LIHC mRNA vaccines, we identified efficacious neoantigens POLR3C and KPNA2, profiled the tumor microenvironment of LIHC, and identified IC1 patients as the subgroup who might not most benefit from vaccination. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00432-022-04285-7.