Identification of an Autophagy-Related lncRNA Prognostic Signature and Related Tumor Immunity Research in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Autophagy is closely associated with the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) and prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). In the present study, we established a signature on the basis of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) related to autophagy (ARlncRNAs) to investigate the TIME and survival of patients with LUAD. We selected ARlncRNAs associated with prognosis to construct a model and divided each sample into different groups on the basis of risk score. The ARlncRNA signature could be recognized as an independent prognostic factor for patients with LUAD, and patients in the low-risk group had a greater survival advantage. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology enrichment analysis suggested that several immune functions and pathways were enriched in different groups. A high-risk score correlated significantly negatively with high abundance of immune cells and stromal cells around the tumor and high tumor mutational burden. Low-risk patients had a higher PD-1, CTLA-4, and HAVCR2 expression and had a better efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors, including PD-1/CTLA-4 inhibitor. A reliable signature on the basis of ARlncRNAs was constructed to explore the TIME and prognosis of patients with LUAD, which could provide valuable information for individualized LUAD treatment.