International Journal of General Medicine (Jun 2023)

Identification of Hypoxia-Associated Signature in Colon Cancer to Assess Tumor Immune Microenvironment and Predict Prognosis Based on 14 Hypoxia-Associated Genes

  • Chen P,
  • Li Z,
  • Liang Y,
  • Wei M,
  • Jiang H,
  • Chen S,
  • Zhao Z

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 16
pp. 2503 – 2518

Abstract

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Peng Chen,1 Zhongxin Li,2 Yulong Liang,1 Ming Wei,2 Haibo Jiang,2 Shihao Chen,2 Zengren Zhao2 1Department of General Surgery, The Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, 050000, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, 050000, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Zengren Zhao, Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Medical University, No. 89 Donggang Road, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, 050000, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Colon cancer is the main malignant tumor of the digestive tract. Hypoxia is highly related to the occurrence, progression and tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) of cancer. The aim of this study was to identify a hypoxia-associated signature with high accuracy for predicting the prognosis and TIME of colon cancer.Methods: Download colon cancer data from the GEO and TCGA databases. A novel hypoxia risk model was identified to predict the prognosis of colon cancer patients. Subsequently, GSEA, TIME and mutation analysis were performed in the hypoxia high and low risk score groups. Finally, the signature gene ANKZF1 was selected for functional verification at the cellular level.Results: A novel hypoxia risk model was identified. The risk score was significantly associated with poorer overall survival in colon cancer, and could be used as an independent prognostic factor for colon cancer. GSEA analysis found that the processes related to stimulate tumor proliferation and anti-apoptosis were significantly enriched in the hypoxia high risk score group. The expression of immunosuppressive cells and most immune checkpoints in the high risk score group was significantly higher than that in the low risk score group. In vitro cell experiments showed that knockdown the expression of ANKZF1 could inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of colon cancer cells.Conclusion: Hypoxia plays an important role in evaluating the TIME and predicting the prognosis of colon cancer.Keywords: colon cancer, hypoxia, prognosis, risk score, tumor immune microenvironment

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