Integrated analyses of prognostic and immunotherapeutic significance of EZH2 in uveal melanoma

The EZH2 expression shows significantly associated with immunotherapeutic resistance in several tumors. A comprehensive analysis of the predictive values of EZH2 for immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) effectiveness in uveal melanoma (UM) remains unclear. We analyzed UM data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, identified 888 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with EZH2 expression, then conducted Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses to elucidate biological features of EZH2 in UM assays. The correlation of the expression of EZH2 with tumor immunity related factors such as immune-related pathways, infiltration of various immune cells, immune score and immune checkpoints were explored. The evaluation of EZH2's capability to predict immune therapy outcomes in UM was assessed by incorporating the Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) score. Lastly, programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression was detected in an independent UM patient cohort by immunohistochemical analyses, the correlation of EZH2 with PD-L1 was evaluated. Results highlighted that the EZH2 expression was correlated with immune-related pathways, infiltration of various immune cells, immune score, the expression of immune checkpoints and immunotherapy sensitivity. Collectively, we suggested that EZH2 might be considered as predictor on the therapeutic effects of ICBs on UM patients, and a potential target for combined immunotherapy.