A predictive study of metabolism reprogramming in cervical carcinoma

Background: Metabolic reprogramming has been identified as a hallmark of cancer, influencing the immunity in the tumor microenvironment. Because of the high-heterogeneity of cervical carcinoma, we aim to figure out the metabolic subtypes of cervical carcinoma indicating the prognosis.

Methods: We profiled the distinct metabolic signatures using data from transcriptomes obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets. Bioinformatics analyses were conducted to identify the possible biomarkers of overall survival and chemotherapy resistance.

Results: Immune infiltration was closely related to metabolic pathways, especially in the carbohydrate pathway and the lipid and energy pathway. Two distinct clusters of differentially expressed genes were identified. Six genes were selected as possible indicators of prognosis, including ELK3, BIN2, MEI1, CCR7, CYP4F12, and DUOX1, relating to the immune status of tumor microenvironment. Under the risk score model based on metabolic genes, the high-risk group showed significantly lower survival (HR =6.802, with 95% CI: 3.637-12.721, P<0.0001), higher possibility of chemotherapy resistance, and higher infiltration of anti-tumor immune cells compared to the low-risk group.

Conclusions: Metabolic reprogramming, especially in the carbohydrate pathway and the lipid and energy metabolic pathway, is associated with the immune cell microenvironment, which is crucial for the prognosis of Invasive cervical carcinoma (ICC), providing potential therapeutic targets in clinic.