The multidimensional role of SLC16A4 in hepatocellular carcinoma in silico analysis: prognostic significance, metabolic pathways, and immune microenvironment regulation.

Background: This study aims to analyze the expression patterns, clinical relevance, and biological functions of SLC16A4 across multiple cancer types, with a focus on liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) in silico analysis.

Methods: We conducted a pan-cancer analysis using data from TCGA and GTEx databases to evaluate SLC16A4 expression in various cancer types. The LIHC cohort was stratified based on SLC16A4 expression levels for further clinicopathological and survival analysis. Functional enrichment, immune infiltration, and RNA modification correlations were explored using bioinformatics tools, including GO, KEGG, GSEA, and ssGSEA.

Results: In LIHC, SLC16A4 was markedly downregulated in tumor tissues compared to normal tissues, and its low expression correlated with advanced pathologic stages and poor histologic grades. Survival analysis revealed that high SLC16A4 expression was associated with improved overall survival and disease-specific survival in LIHC, with multivariate analysis confirming its role as an independent prognostic factor. Functional enrichment analysis linked SLC16A4 to key metabolic pathways. In addition, SLC16A4 expression was correlated with RNA modification genes and mismatch repair genes, suggesting its involvement in post-transcriptional regulation and genomic stability. Immune infiltration analysis revealed that high SLC16A4 expression was associated with increased infiltration of immune cells and regulating immune-related molecules, indicating its potential role in modulating the tumor immune microenvironment.

Conclusions: SLC16A4 exhibits cancer-specific expression patterns and plays a multifaceted role in tumor progression, metabolism, and immune regulation. Its potential as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker, particularly in LIHC, warrants further investigation. These findings highlight SLC16A4 as a promising target for future cancer research and therapy.