Prognostic and immunological significance of CD82 in cancers with focus on hepatocellular carcinoma: A bioinformatics approach.

Despite significant successes, immunotherapy continues to face numerous challenges in practical applications. CD82 plays an important role in the tumor microenvironment (TME) across various cancers. However, the prognostic value of CD82 in immunotherapy and its role in the immune response remain unclear. The expression levels of CD82 in healthy human tissues were assessed using the human protein atlas (HPA) database tool. The association among CD82 expression levels, copy number variations (CNV), and methylation was explored using the gene set cancer analysis (GSCA) database. Timer tumor immune estimation resource (TIMER) database is used for immune checkpoint and immune infiltration. The LinkedOmincs database is used for enrichment analysis. The statistical inquiry was performed through the R program (version 4.4.1). The result has shown that CD82 mRNA levels were significantly downregulated in most tumor types. Abnormal CD82 mRNA expression was associated with CNV and methylation changes in tumor tissues. Furthermore, several immune checkpoint genes related to CD82 influenced prognosis and were linked to increased immune cell infiltration across various cancer forms, including liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC). The prognosis of the patients under multiple cancer forms, particularly LIHC, was remarkably influenced by CD82, which plays a vital role in modulating immune infiltration. CD82 has the potential to serve as both a prognostic indicator and an immunological biomarker in human cancer. CD82 expression is frequently downregulated across various cancer associated with poor prognosis, influenced by CNV and DNA methylation alterations. Its abnormal expression correlates with changes in immune checkpoint gene activity and enhanced immune cell infiltration, notably in liver. These associations suggest that CD82 plays a significant role in shaping the tumor immune microenvironment and affects patient prognosis. Consequently, CD82 holds promise as both a prognostic biomarker and an immunomodulatory target in cancer immunotherapy.