Integrative analysis of the potential of DISP3 as a biomarker for thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer (THCA) is a common endocrine malignancy with diverse prognostic outcomes. The role of dispatched RND transporter family member 3 (DISP3) in tumorigenesis remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate DISP3's biomarker potential in THCA.

DISP3 expression in THCA and its correlation with clinicopathological features was analyzed from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets. Functional enrichment, immune infiltration, genomic alterations and drug sensitivity analyses were performed. Prognostic value was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis, Cox regression, and a nomogram that integrates DISP3 expression with key clinical variables.

DISP3 exhibited elevated expression levels in THCA tissues compared with normal thyroid tissues (P<0.001). Functional enrichment highlighted involvement in key biological processes and pathways, including the Hedgehog and Notch signaling pathways. DISP3 expression was positively correlated with cell cycle-related genes. Clinicopathological analysis indicated that high DISP3 expression was associated with female gender, N1 stage and poor overall survival (OS). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated the diagnostic potential of DISP3 [area under the curve (AUC) =0.724]. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis confirmed that high DISP3 expression predicted poor prognosis for OS [hazard ratio (HR) =8.94]. A prognostic nomogram incorporating DISP3 expression and clinical factors showed substantial predictive accuracy (C-index: 0.818). DISP3 expression correlated with immune cell infiltration, particularly plasmacytoid dendritic cell (DC). DISP3 exhibited recurrent mutations (3.2%) and focal amplifications (11%), but promoter methylation was unchanged. High DISP3 correlated with sensitivity to PI3K/mTOR and Hedgehog inhibitors.

DISP3 possibly serves as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of THCA.