CD1C is associated with Breast Cancer Prognosis and Immune Infiltrates

Abstract

Background: Tumor microenvironment (TME) in breast cancer has a vital role in occurrence, development, and therapeutic responses. However, immune and stroma constituents in TME are major obstacles to understanding and treating breast cancer. We evaluated the significance of TME related genes in breast cancer.Methods: Invasive breast cancer (BRCA) samples were retrieved from TCGA and GEO databases. Stroma and immune scores of samples as well as the proportion of tumor infiltrating immune cells (TICs) were calculated using ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT algorithms. TME-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed by protein interaction (PPI) network and univariate Cox regression to determine CD1c as hub gene. Subsequently, the prognostic value of CD1c, its response to immunotherapy and its mechanism in TME were further studied.Results: In BRCA, DEGs were identified to identify CD1C as hub gene. The differential expression level of CD1C in BRCA patients and the correlation between prognosis and clinical features were verified based on TCGA database and immunohistochemical staining (IHC) results. Enrichment analysis of GSEA and GSVA showed that CD1C take participate in immune-associated signaling pathways. CIBERSORT showed that CD1C levels were associated with tumor immune infiltrating cells (TILs), such as different kinds of T cells. Gene co-expression analysis showed that CD1C and most of immune-associated genes were co-expressed in BRCA. In renal cell carcinoma, patients with high expression of CD1C have better effect of immunotherapy.Conclusion: CD1C is an important part of TME and participates in immune activity regulation in breast tumors. CD1C is expected to become a prognostic marker and a new treatment target for breast cancer.