Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. 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.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Aug 15, 2026; 18(8): 123710
Published online Aug 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.123710
Published online Aug 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.123710
Expression of tensin 4 in hepatocellular carcinoma and its role in epithelial-mesenchymal transformation
Guo-Li Chen, Jian-Hua Liu, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China
Guo-Li Chen, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical College, Chengde 067000, Hebei Province, China
Author contributions: Chen GL wrote the initial manuscript, and performed the research; Liu JH reviewed the manuscript, played an important role in the manuscript preparation; Chen GL and Liu JH designed the research study; all of the authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
AI contribution statement: Portions of this manuscript were edited using AI tools solely for language refinement. The authors carefully reviewed and verified all AI-assisted outputs and take full responsibility for the scientific content of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The Ethics Committee of Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical College granted approval for this study (No. CYFYLL2017329).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the first author at cgl0620@126.com. Participants gave informed consent for data sharing.
Corresponding author: Jian Hua Liu, Chief Physician, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, No. 215 West Heping Road, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China. 26300372@hebmu.edu.cn
Received: May 27, 2026
Revised: July 4, 2026
Accepted: July 31, 2026
Published online: August 15, 2026
Processing time: 73 Days and 3.7 Hours
Revised: July 4, 2026
Accepted: July 31, 2026
Published online: August 15, 2026
Processing time: 73 Days and 3.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study showed that tensin (TNS) 4 was highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and correlated with poor prognosis. TNS4 may regulate Slug expression to mediate epithelial-mesenchymal transition via the transforming growth factor-β1/Smad signaling pathway, promoting proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells. TNS4 is expected to be a novel therapeutic target for HCC and merits further in-depth research.