A Novel Ferroptosis-related 6-Gene Signature for Overall Survival Prediction in Patients with Thyroid carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Ferroptosis is a new form of regulated cell death (RCD) that plays a crucial role in the genesis and prognosis of tumor. Nevertheless, the relationship between ferroptosis and the prognosis of thyroid carcinoma (THCA) remains unclear and needs to be explored. Methods: By analyzing data from the THCA cohort in the TCGA database, ferroptosis-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with prognostic value were identified, which were used to establish a prognostic signature based on Lasso-penalized Cox regression analysis. Then, the model was testified with Kaplan-Meier survival, Cox regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses based on overall survival (OS). Finally, DEGs between the low-risk and high-risk groups were identified and used to conduct GO enrichment analysis, KEGG pathways analysis and immune infiltration analysis.Results: A 6-gene signature was constructed which including DPP4, GPX4, GSS, HMGCR, TFRC and PGD. The area under the curve (AUC) were 0.890 (1 year), 0.863 (2 years) and 0.883 (3 years) which validated the prominent predictive capacity of the model. Multivariate Cox regression certified the model as a prognostic-related independent predictor for OS.Conclusion: In this study, we established an innovative prognostic signature of 6 ferroptosis-related genes which can be as a prognostic-related independent predictor for OS in THCA, while the potential mechanisms was still unclear and needed further exploration.