Ferroptosis Patterns and Tumor Microenvironment Infiltration Characterization in Bladder Cancer

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Cell Death Research
• Cancer Genomics

Background:

• Ferroptosis, an iron-dependent cell death, is crucial in cancer.
• Bladder cancer (BCa) is a prevalent malignancy.
• The role of ferroptosis in BCa's tumor microenvironment (TME) and clinicopathology is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate ferroptosis patterns in bladder cancer.
• To correlate ferroptosis with the tumor microenvironment and clinical features.
• To develop a ferroptosis scoring system for BCa prognosis and treatment prediction.

Main Methods:

• Utilized TCGA and GEO datasets for 570 BCa samples.
• Analyzed 234 validated ferroptosis genes from FerrDb.
• Employed principal component analysis (PCA) to create a ferroptosis score.

Main Results:

• Identified four distinct ferroptosis patterns and two gene clusters.
• Ferroptosis patterns correlate with clinical characteristics, prognosis, and immune cell infiltration.
• The ferroptosis score predicts BCa prognosis, correlates with TNM stage and tumor grade, and relates to immunotherapy and chemotherapy response.

Conclusions:

• Ferroptosis intricately regulates the BCa tumor microenvironment.
• Evaluating ferroptosis patterns can guide clinical strategies and improve patient outcomes.
• The ferroptosis score offers a valuable tool for BCa management.