Construction of prognostic risk model of bladder cancer based on cuproptosis-related long non-coding RNAs

To construct a prognosis risk model based on long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) related to cuproptosis and to evaluate its application in assessing prognosis risk of bladder cancer patients.

RNA sequence data and clinical data of bladder cancer patients were downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas database. The correlation between lncRNAs related to cuproptosis and bladder cancer prognosis was analyzed with Pearson correlation analysis, univariate Cox regression, Lasso regression, and multivariate Cox regression. Then a cuproptosis-related lncRNA prognostic risk scoring equation was constructed. Patients were divided into high-risk and low-risk groups based on the median risk score, and the immune cell abundance between the two groups were compared. The accuracy of the risk scoring equation was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier survival curves, and the application of the risk scoring equation in predicting 1, 3 and 5-year survival rates was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression were used to screen for prognostic factors related to bladder cancer patients, and a prognostic risk assessment nomogram was constructed, the accuracy of which was evaluated with calibration curves.

A prognostic risk scoring equation for bladder cancer patients was constructed based on nine cuproptosis-related lncRNAs. Immune infiltration analysis showed that the abundances of M0 macrophages, M1 macrophages, M2 macrophages, resting mast cells and neutrophils in the high-risk group were significantly higher than those in the low-risk group, while the abundances of CD8+ T cells, helper T cells, regulatory T cells and plasma cells in the low-risk group were significantly higher than those in the high-risk group (all P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that the total survival and progression-free survival of the low-risk group were longer than those of the high-risk group (both P<0.01). Univariate and multivariate Cox analysis showed that the risk score, age and tumor stage were independent factors for patient prognosis. The ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of the risk score in predicting 1, 3 and 5-year survival was 0.716, 0.697 and 0.717, respectively. When combined with age and tumor stage, the AUC for predicting 1-year prognosis increased to 0.725. The prognostic risk assessment nomogram for bladder cancer patients constructed based on patient age, tumor stage, and risk score had a prediction value that was consistent with the actual value.

A bladder cancer patient prognosis risk assessment model based on cuproptosis-related lncRNA has been successfully constructed in this study. The model can predict the prognosis of bladder cancer patients and their immune infiltration status, which may also provide a reference for tumor immunotherapy.