Diagnostic and prognostic role of basic leucine zipper transcription factor in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma

Basic leucine zipper transcription factor (BATF) plays a crucial role in development and progression of different types of carcinomas. However, its prognostic value in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) is yet to be elucidated.

We obtained clinicopathological data and expression profiles of BATF from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) on the pan-cancer and KIRC perspectives. We calculated the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver-operating characteristic curves to understand the discriminatory capacity of BATF. Next, we generated Kaplan-Meier curves to assess the effect of BATF on the overall survival (OS) of patients, then performed univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Subsequently, we used multivariate regression to construct a nomogram for predicting prognosis. Furthermore, we construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, then performed gene set enrichment and pathway enrichment analyses to determine the biological function of the co-expression genes. Finally, we performed tumor microenvironment analyses to establish the relationship between BATF expression and infiltrating immune cells.

BATF was significantly upregulated in KIRC relative to normal kidney tissues. Upregulation of BATF mRNA was associated with higher TNM pathological stage, histological grade, and poor OS/PFI (progression-free interval). Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves showed that BATF had excellent diagnostic value in KIRC, as evidenced by the AUC and cutoff values of 0.942 and 2.033, respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated that KIRC patients with high-BATF were associated with worse prognosis (hazard ratio =1.42, P=0.024). Results from Cox univariate analyses indicated that BATF was an independent prognostic factor in KIRC patients, and survival probabilities were predicted by the established nomogram. Results from the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) and BATF mRNA expression showed an association with immune cell infiltration.

BATF is a prognostic biomarker and a potential target for immune therapies in KIRC.