A novel immunogenomic prognostic signature in lung squamous carcinoma

Lung squamous carcinoma (LUSC) is a common subtype of lung cancer with limited available therapy and is thus associated with poor survival. Immune infiltrating cells and immune-related genes (IRGs) play a key role in the clinical outcomes of LUSC. In the present study, we aimed to develop a potential immunogenomic prognostic signature for patients with LUSC. The transcriptional profiles of 501 LUSC samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and 2498 IRGs from the ImmPort database were used to develop the signature by Cox regression analysis. Ten differentially expressed and survival-associated IRGs were used to develop the risk signature, which could serve as an independent prognostic and predictive factor for patients with LUSC. Furthermore, this risk signature correlated with overall survival and clinical features, including age, in patients with LUSC. In addition, we identified 25 transcription factors that may regulate 15 survival-associated IRGs, using a regulatory network. Collectively, this immunogenomic signature could be a robust prognostic tool for patients with LUSC and holds great promise as individualized immunotherapy for LUSC.