Zhong Ruolei, Yang Mengling, Zhu Rui, Zhang Jiahua, Wang Li
Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Jianghan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430015, P.R. China.
Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430022, P.R. China.
Oncol Lett. 2023 Feb 15;25(4):133. doi: 10.3892/ol.2023.13719. eCollection 2023 Apr.
Collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 (CTHRC1) is a secreted glycoprotein that decreases the deposition of collagen matrix and accelerates tumor metastasis. However, the relationship between CTHRC1 and the outcomes of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes remains unclear. In the present study, the transcriptional level of CTHRC1 and its association with overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) time in diverse cancer types were evaluated using The Cancer Genome Atlas, Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER), ONCOMINE and Kaplan-Meier plotter databases. The association of CTHRC1 expression level with the clinicopathological parameters of patients with HNSCC from The University of ALabama at Birmingham CANcer data analysis Portal (UALCAN) database were also evaluated. Enrichment analysis of CTHRC1 was carried out using gene set enrichment analysis software. CIBERSORT and TIMER databases were used to evaluate the relationship between the expression level of CTHRC1 and the proportion of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs) in multiple cancer types. Moreover, immunohistochemistry was used to verify the expression of CTHRC1 in clinical samples of HNSCC. CTHRC1 was upregulated in HNSCC and high expression of CTHRC1 was associated with worsening clinicopathologic parameters and shorter OS and RFS times. There were eight HALLMARK gene sets, 1,231 immune signature gene sets and 14 KEGG gene sets significantly enriched in the high CTHRC1 expression group, while no gene set was enriched in the low CTHRC1 expression group. The expression of CTHRC1 was closely correlated with the proportion of TICs, where the expression of CTHRC1 was significantly positively correlated with the amount of infiltrated M0 and M2 macrophages, and significantly negatively associated with the levels of M1 macrophages. These findings suggest that CTHRC1 is an adverse prognostic marker and is associated with immune cell infiltration in HNSCC.
含胶原蛋白三螺旋重复序列1（CTHRC1）是一种分泌型糖蛋白，它会减少胶原基质的沉积并加速肿瘤转移。然而，CTHRC1与头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）的预后以及肿瘤浸润淋巴细胞之间的关系仍不清楚。在本研究中，使用癌症基因组图谱、肿瘤免疫评估资源（TIMER）、ONCOMINE和Kaplan-Meier绘图仪数据库评估了CTHRC1在不同癌症类型中的转录水平及其与总生存期（OS）和无复发生存期（RFS）时间的关联。还评估了来自阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校癌症数据分析门户（UALCAN）数据库的HNSCC患者CTHRC1表达水平与临床病理参数的关联。使用基因集富集分析软件对CTHRC1进行富集分析。利用CIBERSORT和TIMER数据库评估CTHRC1表达水平与多种癌症类型中肿瘤浸润免疫细胞（TIC）比例之间的关系。此外，采用免疫组织化学法验证CTHRC1在HNSCC临床样本中的表达。CTHRC1在HNSCC中上调，CTHRC1的高表达与临床病理参数恶化以及较短的OS和RFS时间相关。在CTHRC1高表达组中有8个标志性基因集、1231个免疫特征基因集和14个KEGG基因集显著富集，而在CTHRC1低表达组中没有基因集富集。CTHRC1的表达与TIC的比例密切相关，其中CTHRC1的表达与浸润的M0和M2巨噬细胞数量显著正相关，与M1巨噬细胞水平显著负相关。这些发现表明，CTHRC
