Research Paper Volume 16, Issue 4 pp 3674—3693
Prognostic value and therapeutic potential of IAP family in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
- 1 Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
- 2 Department of Blood Transfusion, Xiangya Hospital, Clinical Transfusion Research Center, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
- 3 Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
- 4 Departments of Ultrasound Imaging, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
- 5 National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
Received: May 30, 2023 Accepted: January 17, 2024 Published: February 15, 2024
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.205551How to Cite
Copyright: © 2024 Yu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) ranks as the eighth most prevalent malignancy globally and has the eighth greatest fatality rate when compared to all other forms of cancer. The inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family comprises a collection of apoptosis-negative modulators characterized by at least one single baculovirus IAP repeat (BIR) domain in its N-terminal region. While the involvement of the IAP family is associated with the initiation and progression of numerous tumours, its specific role in HNSCC remains poorly understood. Thus, this study aimed to comprehensively examine changes in gene expression, immunomodulatory effects, prognosis, and functional enrichment of HNSCC utilising bioinformatics analysis. Elevated levels of distinct IAP family members were observed to varying degrees in HNSCC, with high BIRC2 expression indicating a worse prognosis. Additionally, Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were used to probe the enrichment of gene expression and biological processes related to the IAP family in HNSCC. The infiltration levels of immune cells were shown to be strongly associated with the IAP gene expression, as determined by subsequent analysis. Hence, BIRC2 could be an effective immunotherapy target for HNSCC. Collectively, novel knowledge of the biological roles and prognostic implications of IAP family members in HNSCC is presented in this study.
Abbreviations
HNSCC: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; IAP: Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein; BIR: Baculovirus IAP Repeat; KEGG: Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes; GO: Gene Ontology; OS: Overall survival; RFS: Recurrence-free survival; HR: Hazard ratio; TIMER: Tumor Immune Estimation Resource; BIRC: Baculovirus IAP repeat containment.