Development and Clinical Validation of a Novel 5 Gene Signature Based on Fatty Acid Metabolism-Related Genes in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Yi Fan; Jing Wang; Yaping Wang; Yanni Li; Sijie Wang; Yanfeng Weng; Qiujiao Yang; Chen Chen; Lisong Lin; Yu Qiu; Jing Wang; Fa Chen; Baochang He; Fengqiong Liu

doi:10.1155/2022/3285393

Development and Clinical Validation of a Novel 5 Gene Signature Based on Fatty Acid Metabolism-Related Genes in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2022 Nov 28:2022:3285393. doi: 10.1155/2022/3285393. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yi Fan^{1

2}, Jing Wang³, Yaping Wang^{1

2}, Yanni Li^{1

2}, Sijie Wang^{1

2}, Yanfeng Weng^{1

2}, Qiujiao Yang^{1

2}, Chen Chen^{1

2}, Lisong Lin⁴, Yu Qiu⁴, Jing Wang⁵, Fa Chen^{1

2}, Baochang He^{1

2}, Fengqiong Liu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Environment Factors and Cancer, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.
² Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Gastrointestinal Cancer, Fujian Key Laboratory of Tumor Microbiology, Fujian Medical University, Fujian, China.
³ Central Laboratory, Quanzhou First Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University, China.
⁴ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fujian, China.
⁵ Laboratory Center, The Major Subject of Environment and Health of Fujian Key Universities, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fujian, China.

Abstract

Background/aim: Lipid metabolism disorders play a crucial role in tumor development and progression. The aim of the study focused on constructing a novel prognostic model of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients using fatty acid metabolism-related genes.

Methods: Microarray test and data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were used to identify differentially expressed genes related to fatty acid metabolism. The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was then used to validate the expression of targeted fatty acid metabolism genes. A risk predictive scoring model of fatty acid metabolism-related genes was generated using a multivariate Cox model. The efficacy of this model was assessed by time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC).

Results: 14 fatty acid metabolism-related genes were identified by microarray test and TCGA database analysis and then confirmed by PCR. Finally, a 5 gene signature (ACACB, FABP3, PDK4, PPARG, and PLIN5) was constructed and a RiskScore was calculated for each patient. Compared to the high RiskScore group, the low RiskScore group had better overall survival (OS) (p = 0.02). The RiskScore derived from a 5 gene signature was a prognostic factor (HR: 3.73, 95% CI: 1.38, 10.09) for OSCC patients. The predictive classification efficiencies of RiskScore were evaluated and the area under the curve (AUC) values for 1, 3, and 5 years were 0.613, 0.652, and 0.681, respectively. Then we compared the predictive performance of the prognostic model with or without the RiskScore. The 5 gene-derived RiskScore can improve the predictive performance with AUC values of 0.760, 0.803, and 0.830 for 1, 3, and 5 years OS in prognostic model including the RiskScore. While the predicted AUC values of the model without RiskScore for 1, 3, and 5 years OS were 0.699, 0.715, and 0.714, respectively.

Conclusion: We developed a predictive score model using 5 fatty acid metabolism-related genes, which could be a potential prognostic indicator in OSCC.

MeSH terms

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* / genetics
Fatty Acids
Head and Neck Neoplasms*
Humans
Mouth Neoplasms* / genetics
Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck

Substances

Fatty Acids