A pan-cancer analysis of high mobility group box 1 and its role in human tumorigenesis

Abstract

Understanding the specific and co-driving mechanisms of carcinogenesis in human tumors is indispensable for cancer research and can guide the development of effective treatment methods for tumors. High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) participates in a variety of physiological processes of the body and has an inseparable relationship with tumors. In this study, The Cancer Genome Atlas, Gene Expression Omnibus database, Human Protein Atlas, and bioinformatic tools were used to conduct pan-cancer analysis of HMGB1 in various cancers so as to elucidate its role in human tumorigenesis. We analyzed and evaluated the expression of HMGB1 in tumors, and discovered that overexpression of HMGB1 usually indicated poor overall survival of adrenocortical carcinoma (P < 0.01) and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) (P < 0.05). High HMGB1 expression is also associated with unfavorable disease-free survival for patients with adrenocortical carcinoma (P < 0.001), cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma (P < 0.01), head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (P < 0.05), LUAD (P < 0.05), and sarcoma (P < 0.05). The potential mechanism of HMGB1-mediated tumorigenesis is also discussed. In conclusion, our pan-cancer analysis offers a comprehensive description of the carcinogenic roles of HMGB1 in a variety of human cancers.