Comprehensive analysis of anoikis-related lncRNAs for predicting prognosis and response of immunotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Nowadays, primary liver cancer is still a major threat to human health. Anoikis is a particular form of programed cell death that has an inhibitory effect on neoplasm metastasis. Although several prognostic models based on anoikis-related genes for Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been established, signatures associated with anoikis-related lncRNAs have not been identified. To fill this blank space, the authors built up a prognostic signature and appraised its value in guiding immunotherapy. Eleven prognostic anoikis-related lncRNAs were identified through Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator Cox analysis. The accuracy of the risk signature in predicting prognosis was verified by K-M survival analysis and Receiver operating characteristic analysis. We further discovered that the high-risk group was often enriched in signal pathways related to cell growth and death and immune response; in addition, in the low-risk group, cells often undergo metabolic changes through gene set enrichment analysis. Finally, we realised that HCC patients in the high-risk group were upregulated in immune-checkpoint molecules and tend to have a higher tumour mutation burden level which indicated a higher sensitivity to immunotherapy. All in all, the anoikis-related lncRNAs risk signature showed excellent ability in predicting prognosis and may guide the application of immunotherapy in future clinical practice.