2.3. Immune Cell Infiltration Analysis

Based on the TCGA-LICH cohort, we utilized CIBERSORT to calculate the relative fraction of tumor infiltrating immune cells (TIICs). HCC specimens were grouped into high- and low-NXPH4 groups depended on median expression value of NXPH4. The relative abundance of TIICs was compared in different NXPH4 expression groups. We utilized TIMER database (http://timer.cistrome.org) to perform the correlation analysis between NXPH4 expression and various immune cells and their gene markers. We used TISIDB (http://cis.hku.hk/) to evaluate the association of NXPH4 expression levels and immune inhibitors, chemokine, and chemokine receptors in HCC.