The Novel-B-Cell-Related Gene Signature Predicts the Prognosis and Immune Status of Patients with Esophageal Carcinoma

Abstract

The current understanding of the prognostic significance of B cells and their role in the tumor microenvironment (TME) in esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) is limited. Therefore, we conducted a screening for B-cell-related genes through the analysis of single-cell transcriptome data. Subsequently, we developed a B-cell-related gene signature (BRGrisk) using LASSO-regression analysis. We compared the immune infiltration profiles between the risk groups. The BRGrisk prognostic model indicated significantly worse outcomes for patients with high BRGrisk scores (p < 0.001). The BRGrisk-based nomogram exhibited good prognostic performance. Patients in the high-BRGrisk group had notably higher levels of immune cell infiltration and were more likely to be in an immunoresponsive state. Furthermore, enrichment analysis showed a strong correlation between the prognostic gene signature and cancer-related pathways. IC50 results indicated that patients in the low-BRGrisk group were more responsive to common drugs compared to those in the high-BRGrisk group. In summary, this study presents a novel BRGrisk that can be used to stratify the prognosis of ESCA patients and may offer guidance for personalized treatment strategies aimed at improving prognosis.