LILRB4 expression is associated with macrophage enrichment and differential survival in hepatocellular carcinoma
4 affiliations
- 1Senior Department of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
- 2Chinese People's Liberation Army Medical School, Beijing 100853, China
- 3Graduate School, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, China
- 4Graduate School, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400010, China
Abstract
Background and aims: The clinical and immune-cell context of leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor B4 (LILRB4) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains incompletely characterized. This study aimed to characterize LILRB4 expression across cell types and examine its associations with survival outcomes and macrophage-related immune features in HCC.
Methods: Public liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) resources were analyzed using survival, transcriptomic, functional enrichment, immune deconvolution, and single-cell analyses. Survival analyses included 373 patients for overall survival and 365 for disease-specific survival. Kaplan–Meier analyses compared two expression groups (high and low), defined using outcome-selected cutpoints obtained from maximally selected rank statistics. Continuous-expression Cox models provided complementary analyses.
Results: Higher LILRB4 expression was associated with shorter overall survival (OS) in an outcome-selected analysis (n = 373; low-expression group, 250; high-expression group, 123; Cox hazard ratio [HR], 1.524; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.074–2.162; log-rank p = 0.017). Continuous LILRB4 expression was associated with OS in univariable and adjusted Cox models (adjusted HR, 1.246; 95% CI, 1.010–1.537), whereas continuous expression was not significantly associated with disease-specific survival (HR, 1.137; 95% CI, 0.916–1.412). LILRB4 expression correlated with macrophage enrichment (Spearman rs = 0.755) and M2-like macrophage estimates from quanTIseq (rs = 0.544) and CIBERSORT-ABS (rs = 0.753). Single-cell resources localized LILRB4 mainly to monocyte/macrophage populations.
Conclusion: LILRB4 expression is associated with macrophage-enriched immune features and adverse survival patterns in LIHC. These findings identify LILRB4 as a candidate marker of the macrophage-rich HCC microenvironment that warrants further investigation of its prognostic and immunoregulatory relevance.
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BibTeX
@article{liu2026lilrb4,
title = {{LILRB4 expression is associated with macrophage enrichment and differential survival in hepatocellular carcinoma}},
author = {Qi Liu and Yuyang Liu and Junyi Chen and Tao Wan and Chao Li and Ning Zhang and Zhanyu Yang},
journal = {ILIVER},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.iliver.2026.100278},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iliver.2026.100278},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - LILRB4 expression is associated with macrophage enrichment and differential survival in hepatocellular carcinoma
AU - Qi Liu
AU - Yuyang Liu
AU - Junyi Chen
AU - Tao Wan
AU - Chao Li
AU - Ning Zhang
AU - Zhanyu Yang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
JO - ILIVER
DO - 10.1016/j.iliver.2026.100278
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iliver.2026.100278
AB - Background and aims: The clinical and immune-cell context of leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor B4 (LILRB4) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains incompletely characterized. This study aimed to characterize LILRB4 expression across cell types and examine its associations with survival outcomes and macrophage-related immune features in HCC. Methods: Public liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) resources were analyzed using survival, transcriptomic, functional enrichment, immune deconvolution, and single-cell analyses. Survival analyses included 373 patients for overall survival and 365 for disease-specific survival. Kaplan–Meier analyses compared two expression groups (high and low), defined using outcome-selected cutpoints obtained from maximally selected rank statistics. Continuous-expression Cox models provided complementary analyses. Results: Higher LILRB4 expression was associated with shorter overall survival (OS) in an outcome-selected analysis (n = 373; low-expression group, 250; high-expression group, 123; Cox hazard ratio [HR], 1.524; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.074–2.162; log-rank p = 0.017). Continuous LILRB4 expression was associated with OS in univariable and adjusted Cox models (adjusted HR, 1.246; 95% CI, 1.010–1.537), whereas continuous expression was not significantly associated with disease-specific survival (HR, 1.137; 95% CI, 0.916–1.412). LILRB4 expression correlated with macrophage enrichment (Spearman rs = 0.755) and M2-like macrophage estimates from quanTIseq (rs = 0.544) and CIBERSORT-ABS (rs = 0.753). Single-cell resources localized LILRB4 mainly to monocyte/macrophage populations. Conclusion: LILRB4 expression is associated with macrophage-enriched immune features and adverse survival patterns in LIHC. These findings identify LILRB4 as a candidate marker of the macrophage-rich HCC microenvironment that warrants further investigation of its prognostic and immunoregulatory relevance.
SN - 2772-9478
ER -