Prognostic signature based on m6A-related lncRNAs to predict overall survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Abstract

AbstractA growing body of evidence indicates that N6-methyladenosine (m6A) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play crucial roles in the progression of PDAC and the treatment response of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). In this study, we identified m6A-related lncRNAs to reveal their association with PDAC in prognosis and tumor immune environment. A prognostic signature based on 9 m6A-related lncRNAs was established, and the high-risk patients exhibited a significantly worse prognosis than low-risk patients. The predictive capacity was confirmed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and an independent validation cohort. Correlation analyses revealed that m6A-related lncRNA signature was significantly associated with the number of somatic mutations, immunocyte infiltration, immune function, immune checkpoints, tumor microenvironment (TME) score, and sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs. Consequently, we constructed a highly accurate nomogram for improving clinical applicability of signature and exhibited superior predictive accuracy than both the signature and tumor stage. In conclusion, our proposed m6A-related lncRNA signature is a potential indicator predictive of prognosis and immunotherapeutic responses in PDAC patients.