A prognostic model based on necroptosis-related genes for prognosis and therapy in bladder cancer

Abstract

Bladder cancer, one of the most prevalent malignant cancers, has high rate of recurrence and metastasis. Owing to genomic instability and high-level heterogeneity of bladder cancer, chemotherapy and immunotherapy drugs sensitivity and lack of prognostic markers, the prognosis of bladder cancer is unclear. Necroptosis is a programmed modality of necrotic cell death in a caspase-independent form. Despite the fact that necroptosis plays a critical role in tumor growth, cancer metastasis, and cancer patient prognosis, necroptosis-related gene sets have rarely been studied in bladder cancer. As a result, the development of new necroptosis-related prognostic indicators for bladder cancer patients is critical. Herein, we assessed the necroptosis landscape of bladder cancer patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and classified them into two unique necroptosis-related patterns, using the consensus clustering. Then, using five prognosis-related genes, we constructed a prognostic model (risk score), which contained 5 genes (ANXA1, DOK7, FKBP10, MAP1B and SPOCD1). And a nomogram model was also developed to offer the clinic with a more useful prognostic indicator. We found that risk score was significantly associated with clinicopathological characteristics, TIME, and tumor mutation burden in patients with bladder cancer. Moreover, risk score was a valid guide for immunotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted drugs. In our study, DOK7 was chosen to further verify our prognosis model, and functional assays indicated that knockdown the expression of DOK7 could prompt bladder cancer proliferation and migration. Our work demonstrated the potential role of prognostic model based on necroptosis genes in the prognosis, immune landscape and response efficacy of immunotherapy of bladder cancer.