Exploration of prognostic genes in cervical cancer immune microenvironment

Advanced cervical cancer (CESC) is a common gynecological malignancy that threatens females’ lives and existing treatments remain ineffective. This study focused on discovering potential biomarkers for the prognosis of CESC patients and exploring potential curative mechanisms and possible therapeutic directions. Based on the gene expression profile and CESC patient survival data in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, prognostic signatures were obtained and using Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses to understand related gene functions, functional and pathway enrichment of potential biomarkers. Gene set enrichment analysis and gene set variation analysis were performed to understand further the biological characteristics and regulatory networks of potential biomarker expression levels on the prognosis of CESC. Immune infiltration analysis to comprehend the functional correlation between potential biomarkers and immune cells and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to assess the degree of CESC differentiation identification by prognostic signature and hazard score in predicting patient prognosis. Brain-Specific Angiogenesis Inhibitor 1-Associated Protein 2-Like Protein 1 (BAIAP2L1) and secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1) (hazard ratio (HR) >1) were highly expressed in tumor tissues as CESC risk factors, while DES (Desmin) and EF-Hand Calcium Binding Domain 1 (EFCAB1) (HR <1) were expressed at low levels in tumor tissues as prognostic protective factors. SPP1 had the highest positive correlation with Macrophages M0 and IL3RA had the highest positive correlation with T cells CD8. Patients with high expression of the risk factor gene SPP1 had a significant reduction in overall survival (OS) time, whereas those with high expression of the protective factor gene interleukin-3 receptor alpha chain (IL3RA) had a long OS time. Our results showed that the prognostic signature, either risk or protective factors, have a great effect on the prognosis of CESC, and understanding the role of these genes in the development of CESC may provide new directions.

Cervical cancer; Prognosis; TCGA; Differentially expressed genes (DEGs); BAIAP2L1; SPP1; IL3RA

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