Clinical and Translational Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Nov 26, 2022; 10(33): 12089-12103
Published online Nov 26, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i33.12089
Comprehensive analysis of the relationship between cuproptosis-related genes and esophageal cancer prognosis
Hao Xu, Qian-Cheng Du, Xin-Yu Wang, Ling Zhou, Jian Wang, Ying-Ying Ma, Meng-Yao Liu, Hua Yu
Hao Xu, General Surgery, Shanghai Xuhui Central Hospital, Shanghai 200031, China
Qian-Cheng Du, Jian Wang, Ying-Ying Ma, Meng-Yao Liu, Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Xuhui Central Hospital, Shanghai 200031, China
Xin-Yu Wang, Ling Zhou, Hua Yu, General Surgery, Shanghai Fourth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200434, China
Author contributions: Xu H and Du QC analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; Yu H designed the study; Zhou L, Wang J, Ma YY, and Liu MY collected the data and corrected the paper; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the Shanghai Fourth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University School of Medicine Talent Boosting Plan, No. SY-XKZT-2020-3007.
Institutional review board statement: The data for the study came from public databases and did not involve blood or tissue samples from humans or animals. Therefore, there were no ethical issues involved in this study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hua Yu, MM, Associate Chief Physician, General Surgery, Shanghai Fourth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, No. 1279 Sanmen Road, Shanghai 200434, China. luckyyuhua@163.com
Received: June 18, 2022
Peer-review started: June 18, 2022
First decision: August 6, 2022
Revised: August 18, 2022
Accepted: October 9, 2022
Article in press: October 9, 2022
Published online: November 26, 2022
Processing time: 157 Days and 18.5 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Despite many breakthroughs in treatment, the general prognosis for esophageal cancer, one of the least responsive malignancies to cancer therapy, remains poor. As a result, identifying biomarkers and understanding the molecular mechanisms of esophageal cancer were critical for improving patient outcomes.

Research motivation

A nomogram for predicting the prognosis of esophageal cancer would be developed by evaluating cuproprosis-related genes features and their correlation with prognosis in order to predict the prognosis of esophageal cancer.

Research objectives

Considering cuproprosis-related genes expression was linked to patient prognosis, we intended to develop a nomogram to predict prognosis based on cuproprosis-related genes characteristics and evaluate its prediction performance.

Research methods

Cuproprosis-related genes were found to be linked with esophageal cancer prognosis using univariate COX regression analysis on 151 esophageal cancer samples. The C-index, calibration curve, and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve were used to evaluate the prediction ability of a prognostic nomogram created by combining clinicopathological variables and cuproprosis-related genes.

Research results

Univariate COX regression analysis of 19 Cuproprosis-related genes revealed that the expression of pyruvate dehydrogenase A1 (PDHA1) was associated with the prognosis of esophageal cancer. The low PDHA1 expression group had a better prognosis of esophageal cancer, according to the log-rank test. There was no statistical correlation between PDHA1 expression and 22 immune cells; however there was a correlation between PDHA1 expression and several immune checkpoint genes. The C-index, calibration curve, and ROC curve were used to confirm the predictive ability of the esophageal cancer prognostic nomogram, which was developed by combining pathological type, tumor-node-metastasis stage, and PDHA1 expression.

Research conclusions

Cuproprosis-related genes are correlated to esophageal cancer prognosis, and a deep understanding of its molecular mechanism might contribute to novel cancer treatments in the future.

Research perspectives

To enhance the overall survival of esophageal cancer patients, researchers must investigate cuproprosis biomarkers and anticipate possible therapy targets.