Myocardial Infarction-Induced INSL6 Decrease Contributes to Breast Cancer Progression

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Cardiology
• Genomics

Background:

• Myocardial infarction (MI) exacerbates early-stage breast cancer (BRCA) progression, increasing patient mortality.
• Insulin-like peptide 6 (INSL6) plays a role in MI progression by aiding myofiber regeneration.
• The role of INSL6 in various malignant tumors requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the significance of INSL6 in diverse cancers using integrated omics data.
• To evaluate INSL6 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in pancancer and specifically in BRCA.
• To analyze the correlation between INSL6 expression, clinical characteristics, and tumor progression in BRCA.

Main Methods:

• Integrative analysis of MI GEO dataset and multiple omics data (gene expression, pathway enrichment, PPI).
• Pancancer analysis including immune subtypes, diagnostic, and prognostic value assessment.
• Detailed investigation in BRCA, focusing on clinical correlations, subgroup prognosis, coexpression, DEGs, and PPI networks.

Main Results:

• INSL6 expression was downregulated in the MI group.
• INSL6 demonstrated significant differential expression across most cancers and subtypes.
• Lower INSL6 expression correlated with worse overall and disease-specific survival in BRCA subgroups, indicating its prognostic value.

Conclusions:

• INSL6 may serve as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for various cancers, including BRCA.
• Aberrant INSL6 expression is linked to tumor progression and immune cell infiltration, particularly in KIRP and BRCA.
• The study highlights a potential crosstalk between MI and tumor progression involving INSL6.