Abstract
Background:
Tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) a common malignant tumor type, with aggressive invasion and poor prognosis. To date, invasion-related gene expression signatures for the prognostic stratification of TSCC patients are unavailable in clinical practice. This study aimed to assess the impact of invasion-related genes on the prognosis of TSCC patients.
Methods:
We obtained the mRNA profiles and clinical data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases (TCGA-TSCC and GSE41116, respectively). The TSCC samples from the TCGA-TSCC cohort were randomly divided into TCGA training and TCGA test datasets at a 7:3 ratio. Next, a disease-free survival (DFS) prognostic risk model was established based on univariate and stepwise multivariate Cox regression analyses of TCGA training cohort. Moreover, prognostic genes were screened. Then, the model was evaluated and validated using the TCGA test and GSE41116 datasets. In addition, the prognostic genes were validated in the human TSCC cell line UM1 and the human oral keratinocyte (HOK) cell line using qRT‒PCR analysis.
Results:
Atotal of 70 candidate genes related to invasion were identified in TCGA-TSCC. DFS data were subsequently constructed, and 6 prognostic genes, HMGN2, MYL12B, ACTB, PPP1CA, PSMB9, and IFITM3, were identified. The TSCC samples were divided into high- and low-risk groups in the TCGA training, TCGA test, and GSE41116 cohorts, separately. In particular, the patients with TSCC in the low-risk group had longer disease-free survival (DFS) than those in the high-risk group. Furthermore, qRT‒PCR analysis confirmed that the expression levels of the 6 prognostic genes were significantly greater in the TSCC cell line UM1 than in the HOK cell line.
Conclusion:
This study identified new invasion-related target genes related to poor prognosis in TSCC patients, providing new insights into the underlying mechanisms of TSCC invasion.