CD137L and colorectal cancer prognosis: Insights from clinical and TCGA data analysis

BackgroundCD137L plays a substantial role in immune regulation and has been associated with tumor progression. However, its expression pattern and clinical significance in colorectal cancer remain unclear. The current study was planned to evaluate the expression levels of CD137L in colorectal cancer tissues and investigate its association with clinicopathological characteristics and patient survival.Methodology36 tissue samples were collected from colorectal cancer patients followed by RNA extracted. Following the cDNA synthesis, qRT-PCR was conducted to evaluate the CD137L expression, normalized against GAPDH and the comparative expression was determined using the ΔΔCt method. Chi-square test was applied to evaluate the relation of CD137L expression with clinical parameters. Meanwhile, the TCGA database was explored to find the relationship between the prognosis of colorectal cancer patients and different levels of CD137L expression and to analyze the distribution characteristics of differentially expressed genes.ResultsCD137L expression was significantly correlated with patient survival (P < 0.05), with higher expression observed in patients who were alive at the time of analysis. Clinical parameters such as age and gender were insignificantly associated (P > 0.05) with CD137L expression. However, a significant correlation (P = 0.03) was noted between CD137L expression and tumor staging, suggesting its potential involvement in CRC progression. Furthermore, Analysis of TCGA data showed that patients with elevated CD137L expression exhibited improved overall survival compared to those with lower expression levels. Enrichment analysis revealed that CD137 was primarily enriched with immune cell proliferation, T cell activation and Th1/Th2 balance-related signaling pathways.ConclusionCD137L may serve as a reliable indicator for forecasting the outcome of colorectal cancer patients, providing guidance for colorectal cancer prognosis.