Prognostic Autophagy-Related Genes of Gastric Cancer Patients on Chemotherapy

Background: Chemotherapy resistance based on fluorouracil and cisplatin is one of the most encountered postoperative clinical problems in patients diagnosed with gastric cancer (GC), resulting in poor prognosis. Aim of the Study: This study aimed to combine autophagy-related genes (ARGs) to investigate the susceptibility patients with GC to postoperative chemotherapy. Methods: Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, gene expression data for GC patients undergoing chemotherapy were integrated and analyzed. Prognostic genes were screened based on univariate and multivariate analysis regression analysis. Subjects were divided into high-risk and low-risk groups according to the median risk score. Kaplan-Meier method was used to evaluate OS and DFS. The accuracy of the prediction was determined by the subject operating characteristic curve analysis. In addition, stratified analyses based on different clinical variables was performed to assess the correlation between risk scores and clinical variables. Quantitative real-time (qRT) PCR was used to verify the expression of CXCR4 in GC tissues and cell lines. Results: A total of nine ARGs related to the prognosis of chemotherapy patients were screened out. Compared with normal gastric mucosa cell, CXCR4 showed elevated expression in GC and was significantly associated with survival. Based on GEO and TCGA databases, the model accurately predicted DFS and OS after chemotherapy. Conclusion: This study established prognostic markers based on nine genes, predicting that ARGs are related to chemotherapy susceptibility of GC patients, which can provide better individualized treatment regimens for clinical practice.