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BMC Cancer

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01-12-2021 | NSCLC | Research article

Molecular identification of an immunity- and Ferroptosis-related gene signature in non-small cell lung Cancer

Authors: Taisheng Liu, Honglian Luo, Jinye Zhang, Xiaoshan Hu, Jian Zhang

Published in: BMC Cancer | Issue 1/2021

Abstract

Background

Lung cancer is one of the dominant causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of programmed cell death, plays a key role in cancer immunotherapy. However, the role of immunity- and ferroptosis-related gene signatures in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain unclear.

Methods

RNA-seq data and clinical information pertaining to NSCLC were collected from The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to identify ferroptosis-related genes. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) model was established for sensitivity and specificity evaluation. Gene ontology enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses were performed to explore the function roles of differentially expressed genes.

Results

A signature composed of five ferroptosis-related genes was established to stratify patients into high- and low-risk subgroups. In comparison with patients in the low-risk group, those in the high-risk one showed significantly poor overall survival in the training and validation cohorts (P < 0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated risk score to be an independent predictor of overall survival (P < 0.01). Further, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year ROCs were 0.623 vs. 0.792 vs. 0.635, 0.644 vs. 0.792 vs. 0.634, and 0.631 vs. 0.641 vs. 0.666 in one training and two validation cohorts, respectively. Functional analysis revealed that immune-related pathways were enriched and associated with abnormal activation of immune cells.

Conclusions

We identified five immunity- and ferroptosis-related genes that may be involved in NSCLC progression and prognosis. Targeting ferroptosis-related genes seems to be an alternative to clinical therapy for NSCLC.

Available only for authorised users

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Title: Molecular identification of an immunity- and Ferroptosis-related gene signature in non-small cell lung Cancer
Authors: Taisheng Liu
Honglian Luo
Jinye Zhang
Xiaoshan Hu
Jian Zhang
Publication date: 01-12-2021
Publisher: BioMed Central
Keywords: NSCLC
Lung Cancer
Lung Cancer
NSCLC
Lung Cancer
Published in: BMC Cancer / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2407
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-021-08541-w

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Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

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