The Role of Immune Cells and Immune Related Genes in the Tumor Microenvironment of Thyroid Cancer Implications for Immunotherapy

Abstract

In recent years, immunotherapy has developed rapidly and gradually become one of the important methods for treating THCA. The study of immune cells and immune related genes in the tumor microenvironment greatly promotes the development of immunotherapy. Use the CIBERSORT algorithm to analyze the gene expression profile obtained from TCGA, estimate the infiltration ratio of 22 immune cells in tumor and adjacent tissues, and then analyze the differential expression of immune related genes, and identify immune cells and immune related genes related to clinical progress and prognosis. We observed that a variety of immune cells were enriched in the microenvironment of THCA: 12 kinds of immune cells were closely related to TNM stage and found that two kinds of immune cells were closely related to the prognosis of patients with THCA. Analysis of immune related genes found that they are mainly enriched in immune related pathways. Through PPI network screening that one main module and 10 key genes were identified. Nine key genes were found to be closely related to TNM staging, with CD40LG being closely associated with the prognosis of THCA patients. The type and quantity of infiltrating immune cells in the microenvironment of THCA, as well as immune related genes, are closely related to tumor progression and can be used as important indicators for patient prognosis evaluation. This study is to explore the relationship between immune cells and immune related genes in the tumor microenvironment and the progression and prognosis of THCA.