External Validation of the Prognostic Value of an Immune-Associated Gene Panel for Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinomas

Abstract

Clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCCs) are highly immune infiltrates, and many of them respond to immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors including anti-PD-L1 or anti-PD1 agents. However, the effect of immune genes on clinical outcomes in ccRCCs has not been fully studied. Here, we show in this study that an immune-associated gene panel has a prognostic value for clear cell renal cell carcinomas. We performed single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) and cell type identification by estimating subsets of RNA transcripts (CIBERSORT) algorithms on patient-matched normal renal and RCC tissues to characterize two immunophenotypes and immunological characteristic subpopulations. Furthermore, LASSO Cox regression was applied to develop a novel prognosis-associated model for ccRCC patients based on an immune-gene panel. The results were verified by the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset and coordinated with the clinicopathological characteristics of ccRCCs, along with genomic signatures. Finally, based on the above perspectives, we generated a nomogram with a high prognostic efficiency for ccRCC patients. Overall, this study offers a unique perspective that can contribute to improving the accuracy of prognosis prediction and treatment with immunotherapy.