A Pan-Cancer Analysis Reveals the Prognostic and Immunotherapeutic Value of Stanniocalcin-2 (STC2)

Abstract

Background: Stanniocalcin-2 (STC2) is a secreted glycoprotein which plays an important role in regulating the homeostasis of calcium, glucose homeostasis, and phosphorus metastasis. Accumulating evidence suggests that STC2 is implicated in cancer mechanisms. However, the effects of STC2 on cancer development and progression across pan-cancer are not yet completely known.Methods: Data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database to obtain differentially expressed genes significantly associated with prognosis (key genes). A gene was selected for subsequent correlation studies by integrating the significance of prognosis and the time-dependent ROC curve. Gene expression of different tumor types was analyzed based on the UCSC XENA website. Furthermore, our study investigated the correlation of STC2 expression between prognosis, immune cell infiltration, immune checkpoint genes (ICGs), mismatch repair genes (MMRs), tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), and drug sensitivity in various malignant tumors. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted for correlated genes of STC2 to explore potential mechanisms.Results: A total of 3,429 differentially expressed genes and 397 prognosis-related genes were identified from the TCGA database. Twenty-six key genes were found by crossing the former and the latter, and the highest risk gene, STC2, was selected for subsequent correlation studies. STC2 had good diagnostic performance for HNSCC, and was closely related to the survival status and clinicopathological stage of HNSCC patients. In pan-cancer analysis, STC2 was upregulated in 20 cancers and downregulated in seven cancers. STC2 overexpression was overall negatively correlated with overall survival, disease-free survival, disease-specific survival, and progress-free survival. STC2 was profoundly correlated with the tumor immune microenvironment, including immune cell infiltration, ICGs, MMRs, TMB, and MSI. Moreover, STC2 was significantly negatively correlated with the sensitivity or resistance of multiple drugs.Conclusion: STC2 was a potential prognostic biomarker for pan-cancer and a new immunotherapy target.

Development and validation of a combined hypoxia and ferroptosis prognostic signature for breast cancer

“…also reported that STC2 promoted pancreatic cancer migration, invasion, and EMT ( 79 ). A pan-cancer research found that STC2 was closely related to tumor immune microenvironment including immune cell infiltration, ICGs, MMRs, TMB, and MSI ( 80 ). One bioinformatic analysis reported that overexpression of CCT6A in tumor tissue was associated with poor breast cancer prognosis ( 81 ).…”

UBE2C: A pan‐cancer diagnostic and prognostic biomarker revealed through bioinformatics analysis

“…Interestingly, pan‐cancer analysis has revealed that some cancers arising from different organs exhibit molecular similarities, while certain cancers originating from the same tissue can have distinct genomic profiles 11,12 . Numerous studies have been conducted to explore the expression level of one specific gene in various cancers 13–15 . Recently, the prognostic significance, and immunological functions of ubiquitin‐conjugating enzyme 2C (UBE2C) has been studied across various tumor types 16,17 …”

“…11,12 Numerous studies have been conducted to explore the expression level of one specific gene in various cancers. [13][14][15] Recently, the prognostic significance, and immunological functions of ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 2C (UBE2C) has been studied across various tumor types. 16,17 In the current study, we aimed to detect differentially expressed gene among various cancer types.…”

Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 2C (UBE2C) plays as a cancer diagnostic and prognostic marker: A Bioinformatics pan-cancer analysis

“…Numerous studies have been conducted to explore the expression level of one speci c gene in various cancers and its correlation with diagnosis, prognostic signi cance, and immunological functions (18,19,20). These ndings suggested that identifying deregulated genes and molecular aberrations in several tumor types is essential for extending cancer therapies effective in one cancer type which can be applied to others with a similar genetic pro le.…”