Due to limited investigations about efficacy of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) plus immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) versus TKIs alone, and effects of durations of bone modifying agents (BMAs) on the survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and bone metastases (BoM), we aim to compare the efficacy of TKIs both alone and in combination with ICIs, as well as comparing long-term and no or perioperative use of BMAs for patients with HCC and BoM. Patients with pathologically confirmed HCC and BoM were included in the study. They were stratified into the TKIs group and the TKIs + ICIs group, and the perioperative and the long-term use of BMAs group. Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and disease control rate (DCR) were calculated to assess the response to these regimes. The cumulative risk of initial skeletal-related events (SREs) was used to evaluate treatment efficacy for bone lesions. A total of 21 (33.9%) patients received TKIs (Sorafenib or Lenvatinib) alone and 41 (66.1%) received TKIs + ICIs. The combination group showed higher ORR than monotherapy group (1/21, 4.7% vs. 9/41, 22.0%; p = 0.1432); Additionally, the TKIs + ICIs group offered improved OS (18 months vs. 31 months; p = 0.015) and PFS (10 months vs. 23 months; p = 0.014), while this survival benefits were more profound in virus-infected patients than those non-infected. Prolonged OS (33 months vs. 16 months; p = 0.0048) and PFS (33 months vs. 11 months; p = 0.0027) were observed in patients with long-term use of BMAs compared with no or perioperative use of BMAs. The TKIs + ICIs combination and long-term adjuvant of BMAs may offer a survival advantage for HCC patients with BoM without severe adverse events, which requires further validations.

The concerns on the function of Transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173)-dependent innate immunity in prevention and management of cancers has recently been increased. The role of TMEM173 in predicting the prognosis and response to treatment in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remain unclear. Our study revealed that TMEM173 expression was significantly differential in various tumors and the related prognosis was heterogeneous. Further investigation discovered that the expression level of TMEM173 in LUAD tissues was significantly decreased and high TMEM173 expression is associated with better overall survival in LUAD patients. TMEM173 was mainly enriched in immune response-regulating signaling pathway, T cell activation and cell cycle G2/M phase. Furthermore, it was found that TMEM173 expression was positively related to markers and infiltration levels of tumor-infiltrating immune cells. TMEM173 could predict response to targeted therapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy in LUAD patients. In vitro TMEM173 knockdown decreased the percentage of G2 phase cells, contributing to the increased growth of lung cancer cells. These results implied that TMEM173 might be a prognostic biomarker and a potential target of precision therapy for LUAD patients.