Abstract

The PD-1/PD-L1 pathway plays an important role in the treatment of cancers as immune checkpoint. However, the association of genes involved in the PD-L1 pathway and radiosensitivity of gastric cancer has not been fully characterized. This study aims to explore the relationship between the expression levels of genes involved in the PD-L1 pathway and radiosensitivity for gastric cancer patients. A total of 367 patients with clinical survival information and radiotherapy information were obtained in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Genes involved in the PD-L1 pathway were categorized into high and low expression level groups according to the median value. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to find the association between gene expression level and radiosensitivity. The results show that high expression levels of CD274, EGFR, RAF1, RPS6KB1, PIK3CA, MTOR, CHUK, NFKB1, TRAF6, FOS, NFATC1, and HIF1A were associated with radiosensitivity of gastric cancer. While low expression level of HRAS was also associated with radiosensitivity in gastric cancer. The rates of a new tumor event and disease progression were lower for radiosensitivity patients than other patients. The relationship between the expression level of CD274 and other genes involved in the PD-L1 pathway is significant. GO (Gene Ontology) analysis shows that the biological process of 13 genes was mainly related to innate immune response activating the cell surface receptor signaling pathway. KEGG analysis demonstrated that 13 genes in gastric cancer are mainly related to the PD-L1 expression and PD-1 checkpoint pathway in cancer. The correlation between the expression level of CD274 and other genes involved in the PD-L1 pathway is significant. The present study offered more evidence for using PD-L1 and genes involved in the PD-L1 pathway as potential biomarkers to predict radiosensitive patients with gastric cancer.

Highlights

  • Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common and malignant digestive system tumors; it has the second highest incidence and mortality rate of all cancers [1]

  • CD274 and Genes Involved in the PD-L1 Pathway in Cancer Expression Levels

  • Find genes involved in the PD-L1 pathway in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG)

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Summary

Introduction

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common and malignant digestive system tumors; it has the second highest incidence and mortality rate of all cancers [1]. According to Chinese cancer statistics, gastric cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in China and one of the top five malignant tumors [2]. The treatments of gastric cancer mainly include surgical treatment, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, gene therapy, targeted molecular therapy, and comprehensive treatment. Previous studies have reported that radiotherapy is an effective treatment for patients with different stages of gastric cancer [3]. Radiation therapy in gastric cancer has received increasing attention. How to use radiotherapy to improve the patient’s quality of life is an urgent problem to be solved

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