Identification of STEAP4, EPC1, and CLEC1B as non-invasive candidate biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma using integrated bioinformatics analysis.

Soheyla Khojand, Neda Zahmatkesh, Arezoo Hassani, Zahra Damerchiloo, Zahra Nikoo, Roozbeh Heidarzadehpilehrood

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Article in Biotechnology reports (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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6 authors.

Soheyla KhojandDepartment of Biotechnology and Plant Breeding, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Neda ZahmatkeshDepartment of Genetics, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran.

Arezoo HassaniDepartment of Genetics, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran.

Zahra DamerchilooDepartment of Genetics, Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Zahra NikooDepartment of Genetics, Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Roozbeh HeidarzadehpilehroodDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The high global mortality of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) underscores the need for reliable non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers. In this study, transcriptomic analyses were performed on peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) and tumor datasets from HCC patients to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using an adjusted p-value 〈 0.01 and |log2FC| 〉 1. Functional enrichment analyses revealed predominant immune-related pathways in PBMCs and metabolic pathway dysregulation in tumor tissues. Integration of PBMC and tumor profiles identified STEAP4, EPC1, CLEC1B, and LCN2 as shared DEGs. Survival analyses indicated that elevated expression of STEAP4, EPC1, and CLEC1B was associated with poorer overall survival in HCC patients. Collectively, these findings highlight consistent transcriptional alterations in PBMCs and tumor tissues and suggest that STEAP4, EPC1, and CLEC1B may serve as potential non-invasive biomarkers with diagnostic and prognostic relevance in HCC.

Indexed as

Diagnostic biomarkerHepatocellular carcinomaNon-coding RNANon-invasive biomarkerPeripheral blood mononuclear cellsPrognostic biomarker

Identifiers

PMID41909879

DOI10.1016/j.btre.2026.e00953

PMCPMC13019070

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