ArticleDiscover oncology2025
SLC38A4 as a prognostic biomarker and correlated with immune infiltration in colorectal liver metastasis.
Article in Discover oncology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundColorectal liver metastasis (CRLM) is the most frequent form of metastasis and the main reason for deaths associated with colorectal cancer. However, prognostic biomarkers originating from CRLM tissue remain limited. Additionally, the impact of the metabolism-associated gene SLC38A4 on patients with CRLM remains elusive.
methodsMetabolism-related differentially expressed genes (MRDEGs) were identified between CRLM and adjacent normal liver (NL) tissues using GEO datasets (GSE38174, GSE41258). The prognostic significance of these MRDEGs in CRLM (GSE159216) was evaluated using Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier survival analyses. The differential expression of SLC38A4 was validated through multiple experiments, including qRT-PCR, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry. Genes co-expressed with SLC38A4 were identified through a weighted gene co-expression network analysis, and enrichment analyses were conducted by clusterProfiler. The link between SLC38A4 and immune infiltration was assessed with the CIBERSORT algorithm, while drug sensitivity was analyzed using oncoPredict.
resultsSLC38A4 was identified as an independent favorable-prognosis biomarker for CRLM, with significantly lower expression in CRLM compared to NL tissues. Enrichment analyses indicated that SLC38A4-associated genes participate in diverse metabolic processes. Immune infiltration analysis indicated that SLC38A4 expression is linked to the infiltration of immune cells and three immune checkpoint genes: ARG1, EDNRB, and TNFSF4. Additionally, multiple anti-tumor drugs were positively associated with SLC38A4 expression.
conclusionElevated SLC38A4 expression is correlated with a favorable prognosis in CRLM, likely through mechanisms involving metabolic reprogramming and immune infiltration. Thus, SLC38A4 may serve as both a prognostic biomarker and a potential biomarker for future therapeutic investigation, offering new precision medicine options for CRLM patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.