A signature of six-hypoxia-related genes to evaluate the tumor immune microenvironment and predict prognosis in gastric cancer

Abstract

Abstract Background Hypoxia will trigger a series of immunosuppressive process in tumor microenvironment, leading to the progression in gastric cancer (GC). This research aims to establish a prognostic model made up of hypoxia-risk-related genes in GC. Methods Hypoxic genes were outlined via the protein–protein interaction network. And a prognostic model was developed using univariate cox analysis and lasso regression from data in TCGA. Two independent queues of GEO were used for validation. Results We set up a hypoxic model presented as an independent prognostic factor for GC. And a nomogram combined this model with clinical features can predict OS with great performance. Furthermore, DNA methylation, IHC and cell line analyses validated the expression of hypoxic genes in GC. Conclusions In summary, we proposed and verified a hypoxia-risk-related model, which could reflect the immune microenvironment and predict prognosis in GC.

Keywords

• Hypoxia
• Gastric cancer
• TME
• Risk model
• Immune response