Prediction and identification of immune genes related to the prognosis of patients with colon adenocarcinoma and its mechanisms.

BACKGROUND

Colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) is a gastrointestinal tumor with a high degree of malignancy. Its deterioration process is closely related to the tumor microenvironment, and transcription factors (TF) play a regulatory role in this process. Currently, there is a lack of exploration between the genes related to the COAD tumor microenvironment and the survival prognosis of patients. Models composed of multiple genes usually predict the survival prognosis of patients more accurately than single genes. We can analyze the multigene models that can predict the prognosis of COAD from the current database.

METHODS

The limma package of the R programming language is used for gene differential expression analysis. Kaplan-Meier curve is used to analyze the relationship between the patient risk score model and survival data. The hazard model is used to analyze the relationship between the risk score and the clinical data of COAD patients. The information of immune genes and immune cells is obtained from IMMPORT database and TIMER database. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is used to judge the stability of the model.

RESULTS

We found 7 immune genes, which can built a risk score model to predict the survival prognosis of COAD. According to univariate and multivariate analysis, the risk score can be used as an independent predictor. The content of some immune microenvironment cells will also increase as the risk score increases.

CONCLUSIONS

We found 7 immune genes, such as SLC10A2 (solute carrier family 10 member 2), CXCL3 (C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 3), IGHV5-51 (immunoglobulin heavy variable 5-51), INHBA (inhibin subunit beta A), STC1 (stanniocalcin 1), UCN (urocortin), and OXTR (oxytocin receptor), can constitute a model for predicting the prognosis of COAD. They may provide potential therapeutic targets for clinical treatment of COAD.