Li Qiannan, Muheteer Nuerbiya, Ayoufu Gulibositan, Abulimiti Xieerwaniguli, Aini Ayimuguli, Han Bingjie, Fulati Reyila, Ainiwaer Mieradilijiang, Abudourousuli Ainiwaerjiang
School of Medicine, Kashi University, Kashi, China.
Department of Tumor Internal Medicine, The First People's Hospital of Kashi Prefecture, Kashi, China.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 2;15(1):22620. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-07379-7.
Uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) is a common malignancy that affects the female reproductive tract, and it is characterized by high rates of both morbidity and mortality. This study investigated epidermal growth factor-like domain multiple 6 (EGFL6) as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in patients with UCEC. RNA sequencing data and clinical information from patients with UCEC were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the correlations between EGFL6 expression and clinical features. Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis were performed to evaluate the EGFL6-related biological characteristics and signaling pathways. Immunohistochemistry was performed using UCEC tissue microarrays to assess EGFL6 expression. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the prognostic significance of EGFL6. Three nomograms were developed to predict overall survival, disease-specific survival, and progression-free interval probabilities at 1, 3, and 5 years after diagnosis. The expression of EGFL6 was validated using quantitative real-time PCR. Our findings demonstrate that EGFL6 is markedly overexpressed in UCEC and is associated with unfavorable clinical characteristics, including clinical stage and histological type. Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis highlighted its possible association with various key signaling pathways. Additionally, EGFL6 expression was associated with decreased immune cell infiltration, particularly regulatory T cells (Tregs) (r = - 0.219, p < 0.001) and CD8 + T cells (r = - 0.217, p < 0.001). Overall, EGFL6 expression was associated with a poor patient prognosis in patients. In conclusion, EGFL6 is a potential biomarker for UCEC, and could greatly improve of diagnostic and prognostic evaluation.
子宫体子宫内膜癌（UCEC）是一种影响女性生殖道的常见恶性肿瘤，其发病率和死亡率都很高。本研究调查了表皮生长因子样结构域多重6（EGFL6）作为UCEC患者潜在的诊断和预后生物标志物。从癌症基因组图谱获取了UCEC患者的RNA测序数据和临床信息。采用逻辑回归分析评估EGFL6表达与临床特征之间的相关性。进行基因本体论、京都基因与基因组百科全书以及基因集富集分析，以评估EGFL6相关的生物学特征和信号通路。使用UCEC组织芯片进行免疫组织化学，以评估EGFL6表达。采用Kaplan-Meier法和Cox回归分析评估EGFL6的预后意义。绘制了三个列线图，以预测诊断后1年、3年和5年的总生存率、疾病特异性生存率和无进展生存期概率。使用定量实时PCR验证EGFL6的表达。我们的研究结果表明，EGFL6在UCEC中明显过表达，并且与不良临床特征相关，包括临床分期和组织学类型。基因本体论、京都基因与基因组百科全书以及基因集富集分析突出了其与各种关键信号通路的可能关联。此外，EGFL6表达与免疫细胞浸润减少相关，尤其是调节性T细胞（Tregs）（r = -0.219，p < 0.001）和CD8 + T细胞（r = -0.217，p < 0.001）。总体而言，EGFL6表达与患者的不良预后相关。总之，EGFL6是UCEC的潜在生物标志物，可大大改善诊断和预后评估。
