LIFR expression linked to stomach cancer prognosis in TCGA analysis

Gastric cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and a new bioinformatics study examined how the expression of the receptor gene LIFR relates to prognosis in stomach adenocarcinoma. The research, published in Molecular Genetics and Genomics, analyzed data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and other public databases to map how leukemia inhibitory factor receptor behaves in stomach adenocarcinoma, or STAD, and what that behavior means for survival.

The study, authored by Yihao Tian and Hongjing Liu, reported that LIFR expression was significantly lower in tumor tissues than in paracancerous tissues. Within tumor tissues, however, low LIFR expression was associated with a more favorable prognosis. That paradox, the authors write, means the biological role of LIFR in STAD is context-dependent and cannot be simply classified as tumor-promoting or tumor-suppressive.

To probe this dual character, the researchers divided STAD patients into high- and low-LIFR-expression groups and searched for differentially expressed genes between them. They then constructed an upstream competing endogenous RNA, or ceRNA, regulatory network. The researchers also examined immune infiltration and DNA methylation levels.

The bioinformatics findings were validated by functional cell experiments, the results of which were largely consistent with the database analyses.

LIFR has been implicated in the initiation and progression of gastric cancer by regulating the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer cells, and the study's authors note that gastric cancer pathogenesis remains incompletely understood.

The study used bioinformatics approaches based on The Cancer Genome Atlas and other public databases, with findings validated in cell experiments rather than patient trials.

Subject of Research: The prognostic and regulatory role of LIFR expression in stomach adenocarcinoma

Article Title: High LIFR expression is associated with poor prognosis of stomach adenocarcinoma

Article References: Tian, Y., & Liu, H. (2026). High LIFR expression is associated with poor prognosis of stomach adenocarcinoma. Molecular Genetics and Genomics, 301(1), Article 209. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-026-02541-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s00438-026-02541-w

Keywords: stomach adenocarcinoma, LIFR, gastric cancer, The Cancer Genome Atlas, bioinformatics, ceRNA network, immune infiltration, DNA methylation, prognosis, tumor microenvironment, High, expression