Development of Prognostic Indicator Based on Autophagy-Related lncRNA Analysis in Colon Adenocarcinoma

Abstract EN

There were no systematic researches about autophagy-related long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) signatures to predict the survival of patients with colon adenocarcinoma.

It was necessary to set up corresponding autophagy-related lncRNA signatures.

The expression profiles of lncRNAs which contained 480 colon adenocarcinoma samples were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database.

The coexpression network of lncRNAs and autophagy-related genes was utilized to select autophagy-related lncRNAs.

The lncRNAs were further screened using univariate Cox regression.

In addition, Lasso regression and multivariate Cox regression were used to develop an autophagy-related lncRNA signature.

A risk score based on the signature was established, and Cox regression was used to test whether it was an independent prognostic factor.

The functional enrichment of autophagy-related lncRNAs was visualized using Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes.

Ten prognostic autophagy-related lncRNAs (AC027307.2, AC068580.3, AL138756.1, CD27-AS1, EIF3J-DT, LINC01011, LINC01063, LINC02381, AC073896.3, and SNHG16) were identified to be significantly different, which made up an autophagy-related lncRNA signature.

The signature divided patients with colon adenocarcinoma into the low-risk group and the high-risk group.

A risk score based on the signature was a significantly independent factor for the patients with colon adenocarcinoma (HR=1.088, 95%CI=1.057−1.120; P<0.001).

Additionally, the ten lncRNAs were significantly enriched in autophagy process, metabolism, and tumor classical pathways.

In conclusion, the ten autophagy-related lncRNAs and their signature might be molecular biomarkers and therapeutic targets for the patients with colon adenocarcinoma.