Exploration of Drug Science

From: The dual role of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 in hepatocellular carcinoma: mechanisms, clinical relevance, and therapeutic opportunities

Table 3. Clinical prognostic and predictive value of Nrf2 in HCC

Reference	Cohort	Assay method	Key findings
[14]	520 patients	IHC (nuclear)	High Nrf2 → shorter OS (HR = 1.82, p < 0.01); associated with TNM stage III/IV
[21]	312 patients	qRT-PCR	High NFE2L2 mRNA → worse PFS (HR = 1.65, p = 0.009)
[9]	180 cirrhosis	IHC (cytoplasmic)	Low Nrf2 in regenerative nodules → higher risk of HCC (HR = 2.1, p = 0.005)
[19]	150 sorafenib	Western blot	Low Nrf2 → better response (median OS: 14.2 vs. 9.8 months, p < 0.05)
[11]	200 NASH-HCC	RNA-seq	Nrf2 signature correlated with CSC marker expression (SOX2, ALDH1A1)

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CSC: cancer stem cell; HCC: hepatocellular carcinoma; HR: hazard ratio; IHC: immunohistochemistry; NASH: non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; Nrf2: nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2; OS: overall survival; PFS: progression-free survival; qRT-PCR: quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction; TNM: tumor node metastasis

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