Krishnan A, Mukherjee D. Role of zinc finger protein 71 in hepatocellular carcinoma: Methodological concerns, clinical relevance, and future directions. World J Hepatol 2025; 17(6): 106573 [DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i6.106573]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Arunkumar Krishnan, MD, Department of Supportive Oncology, Atrium Health Levine Cancer, 1021 Morehead Medical Drive, Suite 70100, Charlotte, NC 28204, United States. dr.arunkumar.krishnan@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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/
World J Hepatol. Jun 27, 2025; 17(6): 106573 Published online Jun 27, 2025. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i6.106573
Role of zinc finger protein 71 in hepatocellular carcinoma: Methodological concerns, clinical relevance, and future directions
Arunkumar Krishnan, Diptasree Mukherjee
Arunkumar Krishnan, Department of Supportive Oncology, Atrium Health Levine Cancer, Charlotte, NC 28204, United States
Diptasree Mukherjee, Department of Medicine, Apex Institute of Medical Science, Kolkata 700075, West Bengal, India
Author contributions: Krishnan A contributed to the concept of the study, drafted the manuscript, and participated in the review and editing; Krishnan A and Mukherjee D were involved with critically revising the manuscript for important intellectual content, they contributed equally to this article; and all authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Arunkumar Krishnan, MD, Department of Supportive Oncology, Atrium Health Levine Cancer, 1021 Morehead Medical Drive, Suite 70100, Charlotte, NC 28204, United States. dr.arunkumar.krishnan@gmail.com
Received: March 3, 2025 Revised: April 15, 2025 Accepted: May 13, 2025 Published online: June 27, 2025 Processing time: 116 Days and 18.7 Hours
Abstract
A recent study by Qin et al emphasized the potential of zinc finger protein 71 (ZNF71) as a promising biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The authors offered valuable insights into the relationship between ZNF71 and various clinical and pathological stages of HCC. However, several limitations are required to be addressed to improve the findings. These limitations include concerns regarding patient selection, the generalizability of the results, and the necessity for functional validation to establish ZNF71’s specific role in the progression of HCC. Furthermore, statistical issues related to multiple comparisons, confounding variables, and the inherent heterogeneity of high-throughput datasets warrant careful consideration. Future research should focus on multi-institutional cohorts, utilize in vivo models, and compare ZNF71 with established biomarkers to strengthen the clinical relevance of ZNF71.
Core Tip: A study by Qin et al showed significant upregulation of zinc finger protein 71 (ZNF71) in hepatocellular carcinoma and its association with disease progression. While their findings are valuable, limitations include the need for diverse patient cohorts, larger non-cancerous tissue samples, and functional validation through in vitro and in vivo studies. Statistical improvements, multivariate regression, and multiple comparison corrections are essential. Future research should integrate genomic, epigenomic, and tumor microenvironment data to compare ZNF71 with established biomarkers, such as alpha-fetoprotein. Addressing these gaps will strengthen ZNF71’s potential as a diagnostic and therapeutic target in hepatocellular carcinoma.
