The tumor microenvironment in gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas revealed a prognostic and immunotherapeutic biomarker

Abstract

Accumulated evidence has elucidated that the tumor microenvironment (TME) is great of clinical significance in predicting survival outcomes and therapeutic efficacy. Nonetheless, few studies have investigated the prognostic and immunotherapeutic signature correlated with TME phenotypes in gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas (GIAC). Here, by estimating the TME pattern of immune infiltration and expression in over 1,000 GIAC patients, we revealed three TME subgroups and identified six key differential genes. To predict the TME phenotypes, TMEscore was established and validated to be an independent prognostic factor, where the high TMEscore was characterized by immune activation and response to immunotherapy and accompanied with favorable prognosis in GIAC. Furthermore, TMEscore was confirmed to predict prognosis and immunotherapeutic response in six datasets. In summary, depicting TME landscape of GIAC patients may be beneficial for interpreting survival and immunotherapeutic response, and provide new strategies for clinical treatment of GIAC.