Publication Name	World Journal of Clinical Oncology
Manuscript ID	114622
Country	Egypt

Category	Oncology
Manuscript Type	Case Control Study
Article Title	T cell exhaustion markers in hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma: Expression patterns and prognostic significance in an Egyptian cohort
Manuscript Source	Invited Manuscript
All Author List	Asmaa M Hasan, Sara M F I Ghanem, Amira A A Othman, Mai Hamdy Rashad, Nahla Nosair and Rasha Elgamal
Funding Agency and Grant Number
Corresponding Author	Amira A A Othman, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Suez University, Cairo-Suez Road, Suez 43511, Egypt. amira.othman@med.suezuni.edu.eg
Key Words	Hepatocellular carcinoma; Hepatitis C virus infection; Immune checkpoints; Programmed death 1 receptor; T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain; T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing protein 3
Core Tip	Hepatocellular carcinoma linked to hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major health burden in Egypt. This study comprehensively evaluated T cell exhaustion markers, programmed death 1, T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain, and T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3, on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells across HCV-related liver disease stages. Using advanced analyses, including Random Forest modeling, Cox regression, and mediation analysis, we identified CD4 programmed death 1 and CD8/T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3 as robust prognostic biomarkers of poor survival. These findings highlight novel immune targets for risk stratification and potential immunotherapy in HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma.
Citation	Hasan AM, Ghanem SMFI, Othman AAA, Rashad MH, Nosair N, Elgamal R. T cell exhaustion markers in hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma: Expression patterns and prognostic significance in an Egyptian cohort. World J Clin Oncol 2025; In press

Received	2025-09-24 02:12
Peer-Review Started	2025-09-24 02:12
First Decision by Editorial Office Director	2025-10-10 08:57
Return for Revision	2025-10-10 08:57
Revised	2025-10-11 12:39
Publication Fee Transferred
Second Decision by Editor	2025-12-18 02:40
Second Decision by Editor-in-Chief
Final Decision by Editorial Office Director	2025-12-18 11:11
Articles in Press	2025-12-18 11:11
Edit the Manuscript by Language Editor
Typeset the Manuscript

ISSN	2218-4333 (online)
Open Access	This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Copyright	© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Permissions	For details, please visit: http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/gerinfo/207
Publisher	Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
Website	http://www.wjgnet.com