Abstract
BackgroundIncreasing evidence has shown that hypoxia microenvironment relates to tumor initiation and progression. However, no studies focus on the application of hypoxia-associated genes in predicting osteosarcoma patients’ prognosis. This research aims to identify the hypoxia-associated genes related to osteosarcoma metastasis and construct a gene signature to predict osteosarcoma prognosis.MethodsThe differentially expressed messenger RNAs (DEmRNAs) related to osteosarcoma metastasis were identified from Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (Target) database. Univariate and multivariate cox regression analyses were performed to develop the hypoxia-associated prognostic signature. The Kaplan–Meier (KM) survival analyses of patients with high and low hypoxia risk scores were conducted. The nomogram was constructed and the gene signature was validated in the external Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) cohort. Single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) was conducted to investigate the relationships between immune infiltration and gene signature.ResultsTwo genes, including decorin (DCN) and prolyl 4-hydroxylase subunit alpha 1 (P4HA1), were involved in the hypoxia-associated gene signature. In training and testing datasets, patients with high-risk scores showed lower survival rates and the gene signature was identified as the independent prognostic factor. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves demonstrated the robustness of signature. Functional analyses of DEmRNAs among high- and low-risk groups revealed that immune-associated functions and pathways were significantly enriched. Furthermore, ssGSEA showed that five immune cells (DCs, macrophages, neutrophils, pDCs, and TIL) and three immune features (CCR, APC co inhibition, and Check-point) were down-regulated in the high-risk group.ConclusionThe current study established and validated a novel hypoxia-associated gene signature in osteosarcoma. It could act as a prognostic biomarker and serve as therapeutic guidance in clinical applications.
Highlights
Osteosarcoma is one of the most common primary bone malignant tumors which predominately occurs in the juvenile population (Ritter and Bielack, 2010)
Identification of Hypoxia-Associated DEmRNAs Related to Osteosarcoma Metastasis
To construct the hypoxia-associated gene signature in osteosarcoma, univariate and multivariate cox regression analyses were performed in 13 hypoxia-related DEmRNAs
Summary
Osteosarcoma is one of the most common primary bone malignant tumors which predominately occurs in the juvenile population (Ritter and Bielack, 2010). With the progression of multimodal treatment, especially neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with wide surgical excision, the 5-year survival rates of these patients have significantly improved to over 70% (Anderson, 2016). A large number of patients present with metastasis at initial diagnosis or after intensive treatment. Less than one-fifth of these patients could survive over 5 years (Dai et al, 2011; Kansara et al, 2014). Targeting osteosarcoma metastasis has been a hot direction and numerous researchers focus on it. Increasing evidence has shown that hypoxia microenvironment relates to tumor initiation and progression. No studies focus on the application of hypoxia-associated genes in predicting osteosarcoma patients’ prognosis. This research aims to identify the hypoxia-associated genes related to osteosarcoma metastasis and construct a gene signature to predict osteosarcoma prognosis
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