ASF1B acted as a prognostic biomarker for stomach adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) has a high mortality rate due to the lack of highly sensitive biomarkers. Therefore, the search for potential tumor markers is of great value. ASF1B is a prognostic marker for a variety of tumors, while the prognostic value and immune microenvironment of ASF1B in STAD remain unclear, and to be determined. Kaplan–Meier analysis was performed to analyze the prognostic role of ASF1B in STAD. Functional enrichment of ASF1B was explored with GO and KEGG pathway analysis. We also explored the correlation between ASF1B expression and immune infiltration in STAD. ASF1B was significantly upregulated in STAD tissues and high expression of ASF1B indicated a poor overall survival, progression-free survival, and first progression rate in STAD. The functional enrichment analysis of ASF1B and related genes showed high enrichment in the cell cycle and DNA repair, and the ASF1B high expression group was also mainly enriched in pathways such as the cell cycle. Analysis of tumor immune infiltration showed that ASF1B expression was significantly associated with the majority of immune cell infiltration in STAD. Moreover, STAD patients with high ASF1B expression had a higher tumor mutation burden score, microsatellite instability score, PD-1 immunophenoscore, and immune checkpoint expression. Our results suggest that ASF1B was an independent prognostic factor for STAD as well as a potential target for immunotherapy.