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Leo I. Gordon, MD, FACP
Leo I. Gordon, MD, FACP
Posted: Tuesday, March 22, 2022
The mechanisms behind diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) have yet to be identified due to its varied outcomes. Shudao Xiong, MD, PhD, of The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China, and colleagues conducted a study to determine perturbed pathways and differentially co-expressed hub genes that may be associated with the prognosis and pathogenesis of this type of hematologic malignancy. Published in PeerJ, these data identified core hub genes and relevant pathways that may offer insight on prognosis and therapeutic intervention in B-cell lymphoma.
Clinical information and gene-expression profiles of the GSE12453 data set from the Gene Expression Omnibus database were used to predict tumor-infiltrating immune cells via CIBERSORT analysis. The gene-expression profiling interactive analysis and an independent GSE31312 data set were used to perform survival and single-sample gene set enrichment analyses and validate hub genes.
A total of 46 differentially co-expressed hub genes were identified from the GSE12453 data set, and 15 were found by gene-expression level and survival analysis. Excluding RPL11, patients with high expression of these genes demonstrated significantly shorter 5-year overall and progression-free survival. Notably, their expression levels were further validated using the GSE31312 data set and were found to be reliable (P < .01).
The CIBERSORT algorithm revealed activated memory CD4-positive T cells; CD8-positive T cells; and M0, M1, and M2 macrophages to be the most represented cell tractions in the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, activated dendritic cells and memory B cells were the most frequently observed among non-tumor controls. The functional annotation of the core hub genes most often correlated with ribosome and COVID-19 disease; multiple genes negatively correlated with immature and plasmacytoid dendritic cells, as well as mast cells. Notably, RPL30 and FAU genes were consistently upregulated in all six identified cancer types.
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
