Expression and prognostic value of E2F activators in NSCLC and subtypes: a research based on bioinformatics analysis

E2F activators (E2F1-3) codify a family of transcription factors (TFs) in higher eukaryotes. E2F activators are involved in the cell cycle regulation and synthesis of DNA in mammalian cells, and their overexpression has been detected in many human cancers. However, their clinical significance has not been deeply researched in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and bioinformatics analysis has never been reported to explore their clinical role in NSCLC. In the current study, we investigated the expression and prognostic value of E2F activators in NSCLC patients through the "TCGA datasets" and the "Kaplan-Meier plotter" (KM plotter) database. Hazard ratio (HR), 95 % confidence intervals, and log-rank P were calculated. Compared with normal tissue samples, E2F activators were overexpressed in NSCLC tissues, in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) tissues, and in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) tissues. In NSCLC patients, E2F1 expression was significantly correlated with age, sex, and tumor stage. E2F2 expression was found to be significantly correlated with sex and tumor size. We further demonstrated that E2F1 and E2F2 overexpressions were significantly associated with poor prognosis. In LUAD patients, E2F1 expression was significantly correlated with tumor size and tumor stage. E2F2 expression was significantly correlated with lymph node status and tumor stage. E2F1 and E2F2 overexpression showed a significant association with poor prognosis, while E2F3 overexpression was significantly correlated to better prognosis. In LUSC patients, E2F1 was concluded to be significantly correlated with tumor stage. However, E2F activators were not found to be correlated to prognosis.