The Potential of GASP1 as a Biomarker in Primary Liver Cancer

G-protein coupled receptor-associated sorting protein 1 (GASP1) is a secreted protein that has been reported to be associated with various malignant tumors. However, its role in primary liver cancer (PLC) remains largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression and clinical significance of GASP1 in PLC, as well as to investigate its potential as a clinical biomarker. To achieve this, we conducted RT-qPCR experiments to assess the transcriptional levels of GASP1 in tumor tissues from cancer patients compared to adjacent non-tumor liver tissues. Statistical analyses were performed to examine the associations between GASPl levels and various clinicopathological factors. Our results demonstrated that the mRNA expression level of GASP1 was significantly higher in PLC tumor center tissues compared to matched adjacent non-tumor liver tissues (P=0.034). Additionally, Fisher's exact test revealed a significant association between GASP1 expression and lymphocyte infiltration (P=0.018), suggesting that GASP1 may play an important role in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of PLC. Notably, we observed that among PLC patients exhibiting lymphocyte infiltration, a majority were hepatitis B patients or carriers of the hepatitis B virus (HBV). This observation indicates a potential relationship between GASP1 expression and HBV infection in the pathogenesis of PLC. We also identified elevated GASP1 expression in the majority of AFP-positive patients and HBsAg-positive patients, suggesting a potential correlation between GASP1 expression and both AFP levels and HBV status in PLC. Furthermore, our findings indicated that GASP1 expression exhibits a negative correlation with HBsAb (r=-0.609, P=0.035), TBIL (r=-0.636, P=0.026), DBIL (r=-0.622, P=0.031), and IBIL (r=-0.727, P=0.007), while demonstrating a positive correlation with lymphocyte infiltration (τ=0.816, P=0.007). In summary, our findings emphasize that GASP1 may serve as a novel biomarker for PLC and its expression levels are associated with clinicopathological features. This insight offers a new perspective for the diagnosis and treatment of PLC.