# A cellular senescence-related signature for predicting prognosis, immunotherapy response, and candidate drugs in patients treated with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE)

## TL;DR

Researchers developed a cellular senescence-related signature to predict prognosis and treatment response in HCC patients after TACE, potentially guiding personalized treatment plans.

## Contribution

A novel cellular senescence-related signature was developed and validated for predicting HCC prognosis and immunotherapy response after TACE.

## Key findings

- A signature comprising FOXM1, CDK1, CHEK1, and SERPINE1 was developed and validated for predicting HCC prognosis.
- High-risk patients showed lower survival, activated carcinogenetic pathways, and higher sensitivity to specific drugs.
- The signature correlates with immune infiltration and immunomodulatory gene expression in HCC patients post-TACE.

## Abstract

Cellular senescence is essential to TME development, progression, and remodeling. Few studies have examined cellular senescence in HCC after TACE. Investigating the relationship between cellular senescence, post-TACE prognosis, the TME, and immune treatment responses is crucial.

We analyzed the GSE104580 dataset to identify DEGs. A cellular senescence-related signature was developed using LASSO Cox regression in the GSE14520 dataset and validated in the ICGC dataset. High- and low-risk subgroups were compared using GSVA and GSEA. Correlation studies were conducted to explore the relationship between the prognostic model, immune infiltration, immunotherapy response, and drug sensitivity.

A cellular senescence-related signature comprising FOXM1, CDK1, CHEK1, and SERPINE1 was created and validated. High-risk patients showed significantly lower OS than low-risk patients. High-risk patients had carcinogenetic pathways activated, immunosuppressive cells infiltrated, and immunomodulatory genes overexpressed. They also showed higher sensitivity to EPZ004777_1237 and MK-2206_1053 and potential benefits from GSK-3 inhibitor IX, nortriptyline, lestaurtinib, and JNK-9L.

This study constructed a cellular senescence-related signature that could be used to predict HCC patients’ responses to and prognosis after TACE treatment, aiding in the development of personalized treatment plans.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12672-024-01116-8.