Fig. 3

HSF4 in CRC is Closely Linked to Tumour Stiffness and Indicates Poor Prognosis. A Kaplan–Meier plot comparing the overall survival (OS) of TCGA CRC patients with high and low HSF4 expression (N = 487). The log-rank test was used for comparison. B Comparison of HSF4 expression in the TCGA COAD (colon adenocarcinoma) (N = 41, T = 275) and READ (rectum adenocarcinoma) (N = 10, T = 92) datasets. N represents normal colorectal samples, and T represents tumour samples. Student's t-test was used for comparison. The log2(TPM + 1) transformation was applied for logarithmic presentation. C Assessment of the relationship between log2(TPM + 1) transformed HSF4 expression and CRC TNM staging using the Gepia2 database. An F-test was conducted, with F value = 5.36 and Pr(> F) = 0.00128. D HSF4 expression in tumour and adjacent normal tissues from 24 CRC patients. A paired samples t-test was used for comparison. E Representative IHC images of HSF4 expression in tumour tissues from 4 patients in our cohort. Patients 1, 2, and 3 showed positive HSF4 expression, while Patient 4 showed negative expression. Scale bars are 200 μm and 50 μm, respectively. F Association between HSF4 expression and N stage, T stage, and LARC (locally advanced rectal cancer) and non-LARC in 107 patients from our cohort. A Chi-square test was used for comparison. G Relationship between HSF4 IHC expression and tumour stiffness in 107 patients. A t-test was used for comparison. H Correlation between HSF4 IHC results and tumour stiffness. Spearman correlation test was used for analysis. I Kaplan–Meier plot comparing the overall survival (OS) of CRC patients with high and low HSF4 expression in our cohort (N = 107). The log-rank test was used for comparison. For all panels: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001, and ns denotes not significant