scholarly journals A Novel Cancer Stemness-Related Signature for Predicting Prognosis in Patients with Colon Adenocarcinoma

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Wei Wang ◽  
Congrong Xu ◽  
Yan Ren ◽  
Shiwei Wang ◽  
Chunli Liao ◽  
...  

Objective. To explore the cancer stemness features and develop a novel cancer stemness-related prognostic signature for colon adenocarcinoma (COAD). Methods. We downloaded the mRNA expression data and clinical data of COAD from TCGA database and GEO database. Stemness index, mRNAsi, was utilized to investigate cancer stemness features. Weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to identify cancer stemness-related genes. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were applied to construct a prognostic risk cancer stemness-related signature. We then performed internal and external validation. The relationship between cancer stemness and COAD immune microenvironment was investigated. Results. COAD patients with higher mRNAsi score or EREG-mRNAsi score have significant longer overall survival (OS). We identified 483 differently expressed genes (DEGs) between the high and low mRNAsi score groups. We developed a cancer stemness-related signature using fifteen genes (including RAB31, COL6A3, COL5A2, CCDC80, ADAM12, VGLL3, ECM2, POSTN, DPYSL3, PCDH7, CRISPLD2, COLEC12, NRP2, ISLR, and CCDC8) for prognosis prediction of COAD. Low-risk score was associated with significantly preferable OS in comparison with high-risk score, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) for OS prediction was 0.705. The prognostic signature was an independent predictor for OS of COAD. Macrophages, mast cells, and T helper cells were the vital infiltration immune cells, and APC costimulation and type II IFN response were the vital immune pathways in COAD. Conclusions. We developed and validated a novel cancer stemness-related prognostic signature for COAD, which would contribute to understanding of molecular mechanism in COAD.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Geng ◽  
Tian Chen ◽  
Zihang Zhong ◽  
Senmiao Ni ◽  
Jianling Bai ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: OV is the most lethal gynecological malignancy. M6A and lncRNAs have great influence on OV development and patients' immunotherapy response. Here, we decided to establish a reliable signature in the light of mRLs. Method: The lncRNAs associated with m6A in OV were analyzed and obtained by co-expression analysis in the light of TCGA-OV database. Univariate, LASSO and multivariate Cox regression analyses were employed to establish the model in the light of the mRLs. K-M analysis, PCA, GSEA, and nomogram based on the TCGA-OV and GEO database were conducted to prove the predictive value and independence of the model. The underlying relationship between the model and TME and cancer stemness properties were further investigated through immune features comparison, consensus clustering analysis, and Pan-cancer analysis.Results: A prognostic signature comprising four mRLs: WAC-AS1, LINC00997, DNM3OS, and FOXN3-AS1, was constructed and verified for OV according to TCGA and GEO database. The expressions of the four mRLs were confirmed by qRT-PCR in clinical samples. Applying this signature, people can identify patients more effectively. All the sample were assigned into two clusters, and the clusters had different overall survival, clinical features, and tumor microenvironment. Finally, Pan-cancer analysis further demonstrated the four mRLs significantly related to immune infiltration, TME and cancer stemness properties in various cancer types. Conclusion: This study provided an accurate prognostic signature for patients with OV and elucidated the potential mechanism of the mRLs in immune modulation and treatment response, giving new insights into identifying new therapeutic targets.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Lian Zheng ◽  
Yang Yang ◽  
Xiaorong Cui

Background. Aging is a process that biological changes accumulate with time and lead to increasing susceptibility to diseases like cancer. This study is aimed at establishing an aging-related prognostic signature in colon adenocarcinoma (COAD). Methods. The transcriptome data and clinical variables of COAD patients were downloaded from TCGA database. The genes in GOBP_AGING gene set was used for prognostic evaluation by the univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. The model was presented by a nomogram and assessed by the Kaplan-Meier curves and calibration curves. The drug response and gene mutation were also performed to implicate the clinical significance. The GO and KEGG analyses were employed to unravel the potential functional mechanism. Results. The Gene Set Enrichment Analysis result indicates that GOBP_AGING pathway is significantly enriched in COAD samples. Four aging-related genes are finally used to construct the aging-related prognostic signature: FOXM1, PTH1R, KL, and CGAS. The COAD patients with high risk score have much shorter overall survival in both train cohort and test cohort. The nomogram is then assembled to predict 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival. Patients with high risk score have elevated infiltrating B cell naïve and attenuated cisplatin sensitivity. The mutation landscape shows that the TTN, FAT4, ZFHX4, APC, and OBSCN gene mutation are different between high risk score patients and low risk score patients. The differentially expressed genes between patients with high score and low score are enriched in B cell receptor signaling pathway. Conclusion. We constructed an aging-related signature in COAD patients, which can predict oncological outcome and optimize therapeutic strategy.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran-ran Zhou ◽  
Hu Tian ◽  
Cheng Yang ◽  
Fan Peng ◽  
Hao-yu Yuan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Immunotherapy has been proved to be effective for bladder cancer (BLCA). However, the molecular network involved in BLCA tumor immune response remains unclear. This study aims to construct an immune-related ceRNA network and to identify the prognostic value. Methods: Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we used single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA), weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to determine immune-related mRNA, lncRNA and miRNA. Then least absolute shrinkage, and selection operator (LASSO) and Cox regression were performed to identify the mRNAs with high prognostic value, and accordingly, the risk score was calculated. Internal and external validation were performed both in TCGA and GSE13507 with Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Using the immune-related mRNA, lncRNA and miRNA, a ceRNA network was established via MiRcode, starBase, miRDB, miRTarBase and TargetScan. Besides, we also explore the relationship between the risk score and immune cell infiltration via CIBERSORT algorithm. Results: 5 mRNAs (PCGF3, FASN, DPYSL2, TGFBI and NTF3) were ultimately identified, and KM survival analysis displayed the 5-mRNA risk signature could predict the prognosis of BLCA with high efficacy both in TCGA (p = 1.006e-13) and GSE13507 (p = 7.759e-04). Using miRNA targeting molecular prediction database, an immune-related ceRNA network, including 5 mRNAs, 24 miRNAs and 86 lncRNAs, was constructed. Memory B cells, activated dendritic cells, and regulatory T cells infiltration into tumors were negatively correlated with risk score, while the infiltration levels of macrophages M0, M1 and M2 were positively correlated with risk score. Conclusion: This study helped to better understand the molecular mechanisms of tumor immune response from the view of ceRNA hypothesis, and provided a novel prognostic signature for bladder cancer.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanjia Hu ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Jing Chen

Abstract Background Hypoxia-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been proven to play a role in multiple cancers and can serve as prognostic markers. Lower-grade gliomas (LGGs) are characterized by large heterogeneity. Methods This study aimed to construct a hypoxia-related lncRNA signature for predicting the prognosis of LGG patients. Transcriptome and clinical data of LGG patients were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA). LGG cohort in TCGA was chosen as training set and LGG cohorts in CGGA served as validation sets. A prognostic signature consisting of fourteen hypoxia-related lncRNAs was constructed using univariate and LASSO Cox regression. A risk score formula involving the fourteen lncRNAs was developed to calculate the risk score and patients were classified into high- and low-risk groups based on cutoff. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to compare the survival between two groups. Cox regression analysis was used to determine whether risk score was an independent prognostic factor. A nomogram was then constructed based on independent prognostic factors and assessed by C-index and calibration plot. Gene set enrichment analysis and immune cell infiltration analysis were performed to uncover further mechanisms of this lncRNA signature. Results LGG patients with high risk had poorer prognosis than those with low risk in both training and validation sets. Recipient operating characteristic curves showed good performance of the prognostic signature. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression confirmed that the established lncRNA signature was an independent prognostic factor. C-index and calibration plots showed good predictive performance of nomogram. Gene set enrichment analysis showed that genes in the high-risk group were enriched in apoptosis, cell adhesion, pathways in cancer, hypoxia etc. Immune cells were higher in high-risk group. Conclusion The present study showed the value of the 14-lncRNA signature in predicting survival of LGGs and these 14 lncRNAs could be further investigated to reveal more mechanisms involved in gliomas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongjie Chen ◽  
Hui Huang ◽  
Longjun Zang ◽  
Wenzhe Gao ◽  
Hongwei Zhu ◽  
...  

We aim to construct a hypoxia- and immune-associated risk score model to predict the prognosis of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). By unsupervised consensus clustering algorithms, we generate two different hypoxia clusters. Then, we screened out 682 hypoxia-associated and 528 immune-associated PDAC differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of PDAC using Pearson correlation analysis based on the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression project (GTEx) dataset. Seven hypoxia and immune-associated signature genes (S100A16, PPP3CA, SEMA3C, PLAU, IL18, GDF11, and NR0B1) were identified to construct a risk score model using the Univariate Cox regression and the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) Cox regression, which stratified patients into high- and low-risk groups and were further validated in the GEO and ICGC cohort. Patients in the low-risk group showed superior overall survival (OS) to their high-risk counterparts (p < 0.05). Moreover, it was suggested by multivariate Cox regression that our constructed hypoxia-associated and immune-associated prognosis signature might be used as the independent factor for prognosis prediction (p < 0.001). By CIBERSORT and ESTIMATE algorithms, we discovered that patients in high-risk groups had lower immune score, stromal score, and immune checkpoint expression such as PD-L1, and different immunocyte infiltration states compared with those low-risk patients. The mutation spectrum also differs between high- and low-risk groups. To sum up, our hypoxia- and immune-associated prognostic signature can be used as an approach to stratify the risk of PDAC.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Zhao ◽  
Xuening Zhang ◽  
Zhan Shi ◽  
Songhe Shi

Abstract Background Tumor microenvironment (TME) and immune checkpoint inhibitors has been shown to promote active immune responses through different mechanisms. We aimed to identify the important prognostic genes and prognostic characteristics related to TME in prostate cancer (PCa).Methods The gene transcriptome profiles and clinical information of PCa patients were obtained from the TCGA database, and the immune, stromal and estimate scores were calculated by the ESTIMATE algorithm. We evaluated the prognostic value of risk score (RS) model based on univariate Cox and LASSO Cox regression models analysis, and established a nomogram to predict disease-free survival (DFS) in PCa patients. The GSE70768 data set was used for external validation. Finally, 22 subsets of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (Tiics) were analyzed using the Cibersort algorithm.Results In this study, the patients with higher immune, stromal, and estimate scores were associated with poorer DFS, higher Gleason score, and higher AJCC T stage. Based on the immune and stromal scores, the Venny diagram screened out 515 cross DEGs. The univariate COX and Lasso Cox regression models were used to select 18 DEGs from 515 DEGs, and constructed a RS model. The DFS of the high-RS group was significantly lower than that of the low-RS group (P<0.001). The AUC of 1-year, 3-year and 5-year DFS rates in RS model were 0.778, 0.754 and 0.750, respectively. In addition, the RS model constructed from 18 genes was found to be more sensitive than Gleason score (1, 3, 5 year AUC= 0.704, 0.677 and 0.682). The nomograms of DFS were established based on RS and Gleason scores. The AUC of the nomograms in the first, third, and fifth years were 0.802, 0.808, and 0.796, respectively. These results have been further validated in GEO. In addition, the proportion of Tregs was higher in high-RS patients (P<0.05), and the expression of five immune checkpoints (CTLA-4, PD-1, LAG-3, TIM-3 and TIGIT) was higher in high-RS patients (P<0.05).Conclusion We identified 18 TME-related genes from the TCGA database, which were significantly related to DFS in PCa patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Jingwei Zhao ◽  
Le Wang ◽  
Bo Wei

Energy metabolic processes play important roles for tumor malignancy, indicating that related protein-coding genes and regulatory upstream genes (such as long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs)) may represent potential biomarkers for prognostic prediction. This study will develop a new energy metabolism-related lncRNA-mRNA prognostic signature for lower-grade glioma (LGG) patients. A GSE4290 dataset obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus was used for screening the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and lncRNAs (DELs). The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset was used as the prognosis training set, while the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) was for the validation set. Energy metabolism-related genes were collected from the Molecular Signatures Database (MsigDB), and a coexpression network was established between energy metabolism-related DEGs and DELs to identify energy metabolism-related DELs. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis was performed to filter the prognostic signature which underwent survival analysis and nomogram construction. A total of 1613 DEGs and 37 DELs were identified between LGG and normal brain tissues. One hundred and ten DEGs were overlapped with energy metabolism-related genes. Twenty-seven DELs could coexpress with 67 metabolism-related DEGs. LASSO regression analysis showed that 9 genes in the coexpression network were the optimal signature and used to construct the risk score. Kaplan-Meier curve analysis showed that patients with a high risk score had significantly worse OS than those with a low risk score (TCGA: HR=3.192, 95%CI=2.182‐4.670; CGGA: HR=1.922, 95%CI=1.431‐2.583). The predictive accuracy of the risk score was also high according to the AUC of the ROC curve (TCGA: 0.827; CGGA: 0.806). Multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed age, IDH1 mutation, and risk score as independent prognostic factors, and thus, a prognostic nomogram was established based on these three variables. The excellent prognostic performance of the nomogram was confirmed by calibration and discrimination analyses. In conclusion, our findings provided a new biomarker for the stratification of LGG patients with poor prognosis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Zhong ◽  
Zhe Liu ◽  
Dangchi Li ◽  
Qinyuan Liao ◽  
Jingao Li

Background. An increasing number of studies have indicated that the abnormal expression of certain long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) is linked to the overall survival (OS) of patients with myeloma. Methods. Gene expression data of myeloma patients were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database (GSE4581 and GSE57317). Cox regression analysis, Kaplan-Meier, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were performed to construct and validate the prediction model. Single sample gene set enrichment (ssGSEA) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis were used to predict the function of a specified lncRNA. Results. In this study, a seven-lncRNA signature was identified and used to construct a risk score system for myeloma prognosis. This system was used to stratify patients with different survival rates in the training set into high-risk and low-risk groups. Test set, the entire test set, the external validation set, and the myeloma subtype achieved the authentication of the results. In addition, functional enrichment analysis indicated that 7 prognostic lncRNAs may be involved in the tumorigenesis of myeloma through cancer-related pathways and biological processes. The results of the immune score showed that IF_I was negatively correlated with the risk score. Compared with the published gene signature, the 7-lncRNA model has a higher C-index (above 0.8). Conclusion. In summary, our data provide evidence that seven lncRNAs could be used as independent biomarkers to predict the prognosis of myeloma, which also indicated that these 7 lncRNAs may be involved in the progression of myeloma.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junyu Huo ◽  
Liqun Wu ◽  
Yunjin Zang

BackgroundTumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play a critical role in the progression of malignant tumors, but the detailed mechanism of TAMs in gastric cancer (GC) is still not fully explored.MethodsWe identified differentially expressed immune-related genes (DEIRGs) between GC samples with high and low macrophage infiltration in The Cancer Genome Atlas datasets. A risk score was constructed based on univariate Cox analysis and Lasso penalized Cox regression analysis in the TCGA cohort (n=341). The optimal cutoff determined by the 5-year time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was considered to classify patients into groups with high and low risk. We conducted external validation of the prognostic signature in four independent cohorts (GSE84437, n=431; GSE62254, n=300; GSE15459, n=191; and GSE26901, n=109) from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database.ResultsThe signature consisting of 7 genes (FGF1, GRP, AVPR1A, APOD, PDGFRL, CXCR4, and CSF1R) showed good performance in predicting overall survival (OS) in the 5 independent cohorts. The risk score presented an obviously positive correlation with macrophage abundance (cor=0.7, p&lt;0.001). A significant difference was found between the high- and low-risk groups regarding the overall survival of GC patients. The high-risk group exhibited a higher infiltration level of M2 macrophages estimated by the CIBERSORT algorithm. In the five independent cohorts, the risk score was highly positively correlated with the stromal cell score, suggesting that we can also evaluate the infiltration of stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment according to the risk score.ConclusionOur study developed and validated a general applicable prognostic model for GC from the perspective of TAMs, which may help to improve the precise treatment strategy of GC.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianyu Zhao ◽  
Bo Liu ◽  
Xiaoping Li

Abstract Background: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare endocrine cancer that manifests as abdominal masses and excessive steroid hormone levels. Transcription factors (TFs) deregulation is found to be involved in adrenocortical tumorigenesis and cancer progression. This study aimed to construct a TF-based prognostic signature for prediction of survival of ACC patients.Methods: The gene expression profile for ACC patients were downloaded from TCGA and GEO datasets. The univariate Cox analysis was applied to identify survival-related TFs and the LASSO Cox regression was conducted to construct the TF signature. The multivariate analysis was used to reveal the independent prognostic factors.Results: We identified a 13-TF prognostic signature comprised of CREB3L3, NR0B1, CENPA, FOXM1, E2F2, MYBL2, HOXC11, ZIC2, ZNF282, DNMT1, TCF3, ELK4, and KLF6 using the univariate Cox analysis and LASSO Cox regression. The risk score based on the TF-signature could classify patients into low- and high-risk group. Kaplan-Meier analyses showed that patients in the high-risk group had significantly shorter overall survival compared to the low-risk patients. ROC curves showed that the prognostic signature predicted the overall survival of ACC patients with good sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, the TF-risk score was an independent prognostic factor.Conclusion: Taken together, we identified a 13-TF prognostic marker to predict overall survival in ACC patients.


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