P2RY14 downregulation in lung adenocarcinoma: a potential therapeutic target associated with immune infiltration

Background: The current study aimed to investigate the interrelation between P2RY14 and the prognosis of patients suffering from lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) following surgery.

Methods: The differentially expressed gene (DEG) P2RY14 was screened by the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and Immunology Database and Analysis Portal (ImmPort) databases. The relationship between P2RY14 and clinical data of LUAD was analyzed in TCGA and Kaplan-Meier (KM)-plotter databases. The association of P2RY14 with immune cells and immune-related expressed genes was analyzed in the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) database. A retrospective analysis of the 100 patients clinical data undergoing pulmonary adenocarcinoma surgery admitted to Nanjing Chest Hospital. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis was carried out to evaluate the P2RY14 expression in lung cancer tissues, and quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to confirm the mRNA expression of this gene in LUAD tissues. And their survival was evaluated. KM method and the log-rank test were used for univariate survival analysis, and the Cox regression method was employed for multivariate survival analysis.

Results: P2Y14 was the DEG identified by the database. P2Y14 expression was upregulated in para-cancer tissues in comparison to cancer tissues. Patients suffering from LUAD who have high P2RY14 expression had a better prognosis than those with low expression. P2RY14 expression was shown to be substantially linked with immune invasion in the TIMER database. Finally, the trial included 100 patients, of which 80 died and 20 survived with a mean overall survival (OS) of 48 months. Between the high and low expression groups of P2RY14, there were statistically significant variations in the clinical stage and differentiation degree (P<0.05). Cox regression analysis revealed that differentiation degree, smoking history, and P2RY14 expression were independent risk factors for the prognosis of LUAD patients (all P<0.05).

Conclusions: P2RY14 can substantially prolong the OS of patients suffering from LUAD and can be utilized as a new LUAD predictive biomarker. P2RY14 may be related to LUAD immune invasion and have an essential role in inhibiting tumor cell immune escape within the LUAD microenvironment.