ArticleBMC cancer2026
Integrated and clinical validation of helicase-like transcription factor as a biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma.
Article in BMC cancer, 2026. 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
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Review Article: Biomarkers in Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Towards Precision Medicine.Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics · 2026Review
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have reshaped the treatment landscape for advanced cancers; however, a substantial proportion of patients fail to benefit from ICI therapy, and reliable predictive biomarkers remain limited. This study aimed to investigate the immunological relevance of helicase-like transcription factor (HLTF) and its potential therapeutic implications in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).HLTF expression was elevated across multiple cancer types, with particularly high levels observed in HCC. Increased HLTF expression was significantly associated with advanced tumor stage, higher histological grade, TP53 mutations, and lymph node metastasis. Moreover, high HLTF expression correlated with poorer overall survival, disease-specific survival, and progression-free interval in patients with HCC, indicating its potential value as a prognostic biomarker. Consistent with data from the Human Protein Atlas, HLTF protein expression was 74.51% higher in HCC tissues than in adjacent non-tumor tissues, and a similar pattern was observed at the transcriptional level. Immune infiltration analysis revealed a negative association between HLTF expression and CD8⁺ T cell infiltration, despite notable HLTF enrichment within CD8⁺ T cells themselves. Clear differences in pDC/CD8+ T cells were observed between HLTF-high and HLTF-low subgroups, further supporting an inverse relationship between HLTF and CD8⁺ T cells in HCC TMA cohorts. In addition, we observed that tumor tissues from nonresponders displayed greater levels of HLTF compared to those from responders in our cohort.Taken together, our study points out that HLTF acts as a critical marker that dwindles the effectiveness of ICIs in HCC sufferers. More trials with large numbers of patients are imperative to validate its application as a beneficial biomarker for ICIs.
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Registered trials
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