Main Genes Linked to the Immune Microenvironment in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is a rare cancer, it has the worst prognosis and the highest mortality rate, especially in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). High-throughput data generation is developed and provides an opportunity to investigate molecular pathways involved in cancer progression. The purpose of this study is to explore the role of main genes linked to the immune system and immune microenvironment in HGSOC using bioinformatics approaches to introduce promising biomarkers.

After a systematic search was performed in the Gene Expression Omnibus database, high-throughput sequencing, two RNAseq datasets were selected. The integrated dataset was used to obtain differentially expressed (DE) genes. The immune infiltrate abundances related to DE genes were determined. The pathway, gene-set, and hallmark analyses were performed for the extraction of the immune system-related genes. Then, genes that were included in an integrated network, with acceptable AUC for immunotherapy response, were selected, and survival, gene expression, and mutation analyses were done.

The NCF1, MAP4K1, CIITA, CD3E, PTPN22, SAMHD1, LCP2, TSHR, DOCK2, FANCD2, GNAI1, GNG12, ZBP1, TXK, STAT4, and RASGRP2 genes offer as key genes linked the immune system. MAP4K1 and TXK genes have targeted compounds.

The current study recognized the most relevant genes involved in the immune system in high-grade serous ovarian cancer. The findings of this study provided a holistic understanding of the tumor microenvironment that can be used for introducing therapeutic targets.