肝细胞癌（HCC）对免疫疗法反应较差，持久反应率为10-20％。在本研究中，我们旨在基于乳酸基因对HCC进行分类以识别可能从免疫疗法中获益的患者。本研究采用乳酸相关基因对HCC进行分类，定义了乳酸簇1（LC1）和乳酸簇2（LC2）。从LC1和LC2中区分的基因有助于定义以下乳酸表型簇：乳酸表型簇1（LPC1）、乳酸表型簇2（LPC2）和乳酸表型簇3（LPC3）。基于簇注释，定义和分析了乳酸评分以评估免疫疗法的反应情况。 对所有分类簇进行了分析，显示出不同的免疫特征。LPC3的生存率高于LPC2（LPC3对LPC2，P = 0.027）和LPC1（LPC3对LPC1，P = 0.027）。然后，对乳酸评分进行注释和确认，证实其在预测免疫检查点阻断治疗反应方面是有效的。 在本研究中，我们建立了一种HCC分类系统，并定义了乳酸评分，验证部分能够估计肿瘤患者的反应。©2023作者。

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) responds poorly to immunotherapy, and the durable response rate is 10-20%. Here, we aim to characterize HCC classifications based on lactate genes to identify patients who may benefit from immunotherapy.Lactate-related genes were applied for HCC classification in the current study, and lactate Cluster 1 (LC1) and lactate Cluster 2 (LC2) were defined. Differential genes from LC1 and LC2 helped define the following lactate phenotype clusters: lactate phenotype Cluster 1 (LPC1), lactate phenotype Cluster 2 (LPC2) and lactate phenotype Cluster 3 (LPC3). Based on the cluster annotation, the lactate score was defined and analyzed to evaluate the immunotherapy response.All the classified clusters were analyzed, and they showed different immune signatures. The survival rate of LPC3 was higher than that of LPC2 (LPC3 vs. LPC2, P = 0.027) and LPC1 (LPC3 vs. LPC1, P = 0.027). Then, the lactate score was annotated and confirmed to be effective in predicting responses to immune checkpoint blockade therapy.In the current study, we developed a classification system for HCC and defined the lactate score, which was validated to be partially effective in estimating responses among tumor patients.© 2023. The Author(s).