Identification of Specific Genes for Adenocarcinoma and Squamous Cell of Lung Carcinoma by Bioinformatics Analysis

Abstract

Abstract Background: Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) are two of the most lethal and aggressive pathological subtypes of lung cancer. However, in the early stages of disease, their biomarkers are scarce and can be difficult to detect. The main aim of this bioinformatics-based study was to give a general idea about the lung adenocarcinoma and lung squamous cell carcinoma early detection relevant biomarkers. Methods: To identify candidate specific and shared genes involved in occurrence of the lung adenocarcinoma and lung squamous cell carcinoma, we downloaded 6 microarray datasets from the Gene Expression Database and combined with the expression matrix of LUSC and LUAD from The Cancer Genome Atlas data, which were analyzed by GEO2R tool and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis, respectively. Functional and enrichment analyses of differentially expressed genes were performed using the DAVID database. A protein– protein interaction network was constructed by STRING and visualized in cytoscape software. Survival analysis of hub genes was performed using GEPIA2 and DNA methylation level of the hub genes were analyses through UALCAN. Results: We achieved, three LUAD specific genes including GCNT3, SPDEF and AGR2, three LUSC specific genes including KRT6B, SPRR1B and KRT14and three LUAD-LUSC common genes including SSP1, MMP9 and COL1A1. These identified hub genes, were strongly correlated with LUAD and LUSC patients survival. Conclusion: These results provide compelling evidence that our findings could be potential biomarkers for early detection of Lung adenocarcinoma and lung squamous cell carcinoma. Nevertheless, additional characterization is warranted.