Identification and validation of a prognostic model of necroptosis-related lncRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> The study focused on establishing a prognostic survival model with six necroptosis-related lncRNAs to predict overall survival (OS) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). <b>Methods:</b> The data of gene expression and clinical information of HCC patients were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Cox regression with LASSO was used for constructing a necroptosis-related lncRNA survival model, which we further validated with qRT-PCR <i>in vitro</i>. The relative bioinformatics analysis and consensus cluster analysis were performed based on six differentially expressed lncRNAs. <b>Results:</b> The survival prognostic model was constructed by using data from TCGA. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves showed a good survival prediction by this model. GSEA showed that several signaling pathways were related to HCC progression. Immune-related functional analysis showed that aDCs, macrophages, Th2 cells, and Tregs have stronger correlation with the high-risk group. The consensus cluster analysis further validated the 6-lncRNA prognostic model. <b>Conclusion:</b> A novel 6-lncRNA (AL606489.1, NRAV, LINC02870, DUXAP8, "ZFPM2-AS1," and AL031985.3) prognostic model had an accurately predictive power in HCC prognosis, which might be worthy of clinical application.