XCR1: A promising prognostic marker that pinpoints targeted and immune-based therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES

The lymphotactin receptor X-C motif chemokine receptor 1 (XCR1) is an essential member of the chemokine receptor family and is related to tumor development and progression. Nevertheless, further investigation is required to explore its expression patterns, prognostic values, and functions related to target or immune therapies in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The differential expression patterns of and its prognostic influences were performed through The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) databases. Subsequently, immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining and univariate and multivariate Cox regressions were performed to validate the prognostic values in different subgroups. Furthermore, the potential roles of in predicting target and immune therapeutic responses were also investigated.

RESULTS

Increased expression level of was associated with favorable overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Subgroup analysis revealed that a high expression level of or positive immune cell proportion score (iCPS) were associated with favorable OS in the HCC patients with favorable tumor characteristics. In addition, the enhanced expression was associated with the tumor environment scores, immune cell infiltration levels, and the expression levels of immune checkpoint genes. Further analysis revealed that improved expression of was linked to better OS and RFS in HCC patients who received sorafenib.

CONCLUSION

This study identified that is a valuable prognostic biomarker in the HCC population, especially in those with favorable tumor characteristics. The combination of iCPS status and BCLC status has a synergistic effect on stratifying patients' OS and RFS. Further analyses showed that has the potential ability to predict treatment responses to sorafenib and immune-based therapies.