Higher Inflammatory Response in Hepatocellular Carcinoma is Associated with Immune Cell Infiltration and a Better Outcome.

{"sci_version": "1.2", "schema": "https://corpus.bntrg.co.uk/sci/1.0/sci.schema.json", "id": "pmid:38260290", "kind": "science-record", "revision": 4, "content_hash": "sha256:e3990b0f444c854b9f267126a0a8182b44a194e86ad06591d04cb033509d62eb", "created_at": "2026-11-01T19:20:11Z", "updated_at": "2026-11-01T22:53:31Z", "generator": {"name": "corpus-assay-engine", "run_id": "reading-sci-2026-11-01"}, "paper": {"state": "complete", "title": "Higher Inflammatory Response in Hepatocellular Carcinoma is Associated with Immune Cell Infiltration and a Better Outcome.", "doi": "10.21203/rs.3.rs-3768964/v1", "pmid": "38260290", "authors": ["Masanori Oshi", "Kohei Chida", "Arya Mariam Roy", "Gabriella Kim Mann", "Nan An", "Li Yan", "Itaru Endo", "Kazuaki Takabe"], "journal": "Research square", "year": 2024, "abstract": "Background & Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) often develops from chronic liver inflammation. Inflammation within a tumor can either promote cancer progression or activate an immune response against it. This study aims to determine the clinical significance of enhanced inflammation in HCC.\nMethods: Data from 655 HCC patients across four cohorts (TCGA, GSE6764, GSE76427, GSE89377) were examined. Inflammatory response was quantified using a scoring system derived from the gene set variation analysis of the \"INFLAMMATORY_RESPONSE\" gene set.\nResults: A stepwise increase in inflammatory response was noted from normal liver to cirrhosis, with consistently lower levels in HCC across both GSE6764 and GSE89377 cohorts (both p<0.001). Similar trends were observed in interferon response, pathways such as IL6/JAK/STAT3 and complement signaling, coagulation cascade, and allograft rejection (all p<0.02). HCCs with high inflammatory response were associated with increased immune cell infiltrations (p<0.01) and cytolytic activity (p<0.001). Interestingly, these HCCs had reduced mutation rates, no relationship with cell proliferation, and displayed both immune responses and pro-cancerous signals including epithelial-mesenchymal transition, KRAS, and hypoxia. Further, a high inflammatory score correlated with improved disease-free survival in TCGA (p=0.034) and overall survival in GSE76427 (p=0.008).\nConclusion: HCC with higher levels of inflammatory response demonstrated increased immune cell infiltration, enhanced immune-related and other pro-cancerous-related signaling, and better patient prognosis.", "claims": [{"id": "claim-method", "statement": "Survival analysis was performed used log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards.", "kind": "methodological", "target": null, "evidence": [{"asset": "source:pmid:38260290", "locator": "sections[7] \"Statistical analysis\" paragraph 2", "quote": "Survival analysis was performed used log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards."}], "state": "complete"}, {"id": "claim-data-access", "statement": "All the cohorts/datasets used in this study; The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and GO cohorts are all publicly available without any restrictions via cBioportal or Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO).", "kind": "methodological", "target": null, "evidence": [{"asset": "source:pmid:38260290", "locator": "sections[21] \"Data Availability:\" paragraph 2", "quote": "All the cohorts/datasets used in this study; The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and GO cohorts are all publicly available without any restrictions via cBioportal or Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO)."}], "state": "complete"}, {"id": "claim-target-result", "statement": "A high inflammatory score correlated with improved disease-free survival in TCGA (p=0.034) and overall survival in GSE76427 (p=0.008).", "kind": "qualitative", "target": null, "evidence": [{"asset": "source:pmid:38260290", "locator": "sections[0] \"Abstract\" paragraph 3", "quote": "Further, a high inflammatory score correlated with improved disease-free survival in TCGA (p=0.034) and overall survival in GSE76427 (p=0.008)."}], "state": "complete"}], "gaps": []}, "experiment": {"state": "complete", "objective": "A high inflammatory score correlated with improved disease-free survival in TCGA (p=0.034) and overall survival in GSE76427 (p=0.008).", "steps": [{"id": "read_published_estimate", "order": 1, "name": "Read the published estimate from the source", "kind": "other", "state": "complete", "blocked_on": null, "description": "The claim, method and evidence span published with the source article.", "duration_hours": null, "parameters": {}, "inputs": ["source:pmid:38260290"], "outputs": ["the published estimate and its evidence"], "instruments": [], "reagents": []}, {"id": "obtain_source_data", "order": 2, "name": "Obtain the source data from the named repository", "kind": "data-preparation", "state": "complete", "blocked_on": null, "description": "The GEO series accession resolves and its sample accessions are listed. This lane did not download the dataset or read its licence.", "duration_hours": null, "parameters": {}, "inputs": ["data:geo:GSE6764"], "outputs": ["the source data with its repository provenance"], "instruments": [], "reagents": []}, {"id": "run_analysis", "order": 3, "name": "Run the published analysis", "kind": "analysis", "state": "complete", "blocked_on": null, "description": "Apply the paper's statistical method to the resolved series and compare the result with the published target.", "duration_hours": null, "parameters": {}, "inputs": ["data:geo:GSE6764"], "outputs": ["the replicated result and its comparison"], "instruments": [], "reagents": []}], "materials": [], "instruments": [], "reagents": [], "conditions": {}, "gaps": []}, "data": {"state": "partial", "assets": [{"id": "source:pmid:38260290", "role": "manuscript", "format": "xml", "media_type": "application/xml", "uri": "https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3768964/v1", "sha256": "sha256:16f337caeb10d1fa35edae46a66fb37b2f2c33766abc619def1b3d82dd61a3b9", "bytes": 35827, "access": "open", "state": "resolved", "reader": null, "reader_status": "reader_required", "identifier": "10.21203/rs.3.rs-3768964/v1", "version": null, "note": "Full article fetched from PMC; 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