Construction of a risk model for predicting colorectal cancer prognosis and immunotherapy based on angiogenesis-related gene

Abstract

Abstract Background Angiogenesis is closely associated with the prognosis and immune microenvironment of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), which is regulated by numerous angiogenesis related genes (ARGs). This study aimed to construct a prognostic model based on ARGs to provide effective guidance for the prognosis and immunotherapy response of CRC patients. Methods CRC data for CRC patients was extracted from the public data to analyze the difference of immune cell infiltration abundance between Cluster 1 (high ARGs, C1) and Cluster 2 (low ARGs, C2). Results The results showed that C2 had a lower abundance of immune cell infiltration, especially CD4 + T cells. Furthermore, a model based on differential expression genes (DEGs) of C1 and C2 was established. Validation indicated that the ARGs-DEGs model could be well applied to predict the survival of CRC patients, thus determining prognostic risk stratification. The univariate and multivariate COX regression analysis of risk score combined with multiple clinical features showed that risk score of ARGs-DEGs model was an independent risk factor for CRC patients. Further construction of Norman chart combined with multiple clinical features could more accurately predict the prognosis of CRC patients. In addition, our further study demonstrated that intercellular connectivity and extracellular matrix remodeling signaling pathways may be potential mechanisms of the ARGs-DEGs model. Conclusions From our findings that the distribution of immune checkpoints was significantly obvious differences between the high-risk and low-risk cohorts, we conclude that the low-risk cohorts had a potentially better response to immunotherapy.