Clinical significance of SNRPD1 expression in predicting post-transplant recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze SNRPD1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and investigate its impact on post-liver transplantation recurrence and prognosis.

METHODS

Differentially expressed genes were identified from the TCGA-LIHC cohort using R-based bioinformatics tools. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, ROC curves, nomograms, and Cox regression models assessed the diagnostic and prognostic value of SNRPD1 in HCC. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect SNRPD1 protein expression in 102 paired HCC and adjacent non-tumor tissues, with correlation analysis of clinicopathological parameters and follow-up data.

RESULTS

SNRPD1 expression was significantly higher in HCC than in adjacent tissues (89.2% vs. 15.7%, P < 0.001) and positively correlated with microvascular invasion (MVI) and microvascular density (MVD) (P < 0.05; r = 0.26). Multivariate Cox regression confirmed high SNRPD1 expression as an independent risk factor for poor overall survival (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.679, P < 0.001) and progression-free survival (HR = 2.08, P = 0.025) in transplant recipients. The diagnostic AUC was 0.86. High SNRPD1 expression was associated with significantly shorter median overall survival (OS, 45 vs. 88 months) and progression-free survival (PFS, 46 vs. 75 months) (both P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

SNRPD1 is highly expressed in HCC and correlates with MVI and MVD. High SNRPD1 expression independently predicts poorer post-transplant OS and PFS, suggesting it as a promising prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target.