Identification of prognostic gene signatures for survival of patients with phaeochromocytoma, paraganglioma, and Other tumor types

Abstract

Background/Aim Tumor treatments remain unsatisfactory, as many patients continue to die despite therapy. There is an urgent need for novel drug targets, particularly for rare tumors. In this study, we sought to identify genes with prognostic significance for survival in patients with phaeochromocytoma or paraganglioma. We also examined whether these genes are relevant in other tumor entities. Patients and Methods We mined the TCGA-based KM Plotter and studied 186 risk genes for phaeochromocytoma and paraganglioma. Results Using Kaplan-Meier statistics, we performed 3,163 calculations based on 7,489 tumor biopsies and identified a 2-gene signature for phaeochromocytoma/paraganglioma (AQP4, FAM84H). Since the 186 risk genes are not exclusively related to the development of phaeochromocytoma/paraganglioma alone, we also investigated their prognostic relevance in 17 other tumor types. A clustered 12-gene signature has been found common in four other tumor entities (liver hepatocellular carcinoma, renal clear cell carcinoma, renal papillary cell carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma). This signature consisted of BUB1, BUB1B, CDK1, CENPA, CKAP2L, IQGAP3, MKI67, NDC80, PBK, RRM2, TOP2A, and TTK. Conclusion Our analysis provides a basis for the development of a novel prognostic test to predict the survival time of patients.