Keratin 19 is a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in pancreatic adenocarcinoma

This study aimed to evaluate Keratin 19 (KRT19) as a potential prognostic biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD). Using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and the Gene Expression Omnibus, we analyzed KRT19 expression in PAAD tissues and identified differentially expressed genes associated with KRT19. Gene ontology (GO) and gene set enrichment analysis were performed to explore the underlying mechanisms of KRT19 in PAAD progression. Spearman correlation analysis was used to assess the relationships between KRT19 expression and immune cell infiltration, immune checkpoint genes, and TP53 expression. Logistic regression was employed to examine the association between KRT19 expression and clinicopathological features. Kaplan-Meier survival curves, receiver operating characteristic curves, a nomogram model, and Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of KRT19. KRT19 expression was significantly higher in tumor tissues than in adjacent non-tumor tissues and was closely associated with immune cell infiltration, HAVCR2 expression, and TP53 status. KRT19 levels correlated with T stage, overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival, and histologic grade. Cox regression and receiver operating characteristic analysis further indicated that KRT19 expression is an independent risk factor for OS, disease-specific survival, and progression-free interval in PAAD patients and can effectively distinguish tumor from normal tissue. In conclusion, the findings suggest that KRT19 could serve as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of PAAD, and it may be implicated in the regulation of the immune microenvironment.