Publication Name	World Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology
Manuscript ID	126440
DOI	10.4251/wjgo.126440
Country	China

Category	Oncology
Manuscript Type	Translational Research
Article Title	Tertiary lymphoid structure-associated chemokine programs define an immune-organized tumor microenvironment with prognostic relevance in hepatocellular carcinoma
Manuscript Source	Unsolicited Manuscript
All Author List	Kun Chen, Yue-Qi Wang, Meng-Chen Guo, Xiao-Yu Gu, Xue-Mei Chen, Su-Su Luo and Shuang Liu
Funding Agency and Grant Number	Funding Agency Grant Number Scientific Research Incubation Fund of Jiangbei Campus, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University NO.202302Q the National Natural Science Foundation of China NO.32400043
Corresponding Author	Shuang Liu, Center of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, No. 87 Dingjiaqiao Road, Gulou District, Nanjing 210000, Jiangsu Province, China. liushuang@seu.edu.cn
Key Words	Hepatocellular carcinoma; Tertiary lymphoid structures; Tumor immune microenvironment; Prognostic signature; Transcriptomics
Core Tip	Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) are organized immune aggregates and their transcriptional programs remain poorly defined in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Using multiple public cohorts, we anchored a 12-chemokine TLS signature to histology-annotated TLS status, localized chemokine and receptor expression using single-cell transcriptomic profiling, and derived a seven-gene prognostic score. The score stratified overall survival in a training cohort and an independent validation cohort. This study provides a scalable, histology-anchored transcriptomic framework for immune stratification in HCC.
Citation	Chen K, Wang YQ, Guo MC, Gu XY, Chen XM, Luo SS, Liu S. Tertiary lymphoid structure-associated chemokine programs define an immune-organized tumor microenvironment with prognostic relevance in hepatocellular carcinoma. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; In press DOI: https://doi.org/10.4251/wjgo.126440
PDF	126440-in-press.pdf

Received	2026-08-04 07:34
Peer-Review Started	2026-08-05 03:12
First Decision by Editorial Office Director
Return for Revision	2026-09-03 08:00
Revised	2026-09-16 13:50
Publication Fee Transferred	2026-09-29 12:47
Second Decision by Editor	2026-10-15 03:35
Second Decision by Editor-in-Chief
Final Decision by Editorial Office Director	2026-10-16 09:09
Articles in Press	2026-10-16 09:09
Edit the Manuscript by Language Editor
Typeset the Manuscript

ISSN	1948-5204 (online)
Open Access	This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See Permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
Copyright	©Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2026. No commercial re-use. See Permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
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