M7G-related molecular subtypes can predict the prognosis and correlate with immunotherapy and chemotherapy responses in bladder cancer patients.

BACKGROUND

N7-methylguanosine (m7G) is closely associated with tumor prognosis and immune response in many cancer types. The correlation between m7G and bladder cancer (BC) needs further study. We aimed to orchestrate molecular subtypes and identify key genes for BC from the perspective of m7G.

METHODS

RNA-seq and clinical data of BC patients were extracted from TCGA and GSE13507 datasets. The patients were subtyped by "ConsensusClusterPlus" and "limma." The clusters were validated by the Kaplan‒Meier curves, univariable and multivariate Cox regression models, the concordance index, and calibration curves. The immunotherapy response was evaluated by immune checkpoints, immune infiltration, TIDE score, and IMvigor210 cohort. Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer was utilized to predict the chemotherapy response between the clusters.

RESULTS

The m7G-related cluster was ultimately established by EIF4G1, NUDT11, NUDT10, and CCNB1. The independent prognostic value of the m7G-related cluster was validated by the TCGA and GSE13507 datasets. The cluster was involved in immune-associated pathways, such as neutrophil degranulation, antigen processing cross-presentation, and signaling by interleukins pathways. Meanwhile, cluster 2 was positively correlated with many immune checkpoints, such as CD274, CTLA4, HAVCR2, LAG3, PDCD1, and PDCD1LG2. The cluster 2 was significantly correlated with a higher TIDE score than the cluster 1. Furthermore, in the IMvigor210 cohort, patients in the cluster 1 had a higher response rate than those in the cluster 2. Patients in the cluster 2 were sensitive to many chemotherapies.

CONCLUSIONS

We successfully determined molecular subtypes and identified key genes for BC from the perspective of m7G, thereby providing a roadmap for the evolution of immunotherapy and precision medicine.