Integrated Transcriptomic Analysis Identifies Immune Remodeling and Prognostic Signatures in Uveal Melanoma

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Genomics
• Immunology

Background:

• Uveal melanoma (UVM) is the most common primary intraocular malignancy.
• UVM frequently metastasizes to the liver, leading to poor prognosis.
• Limited prognostic biomarkers and therapies exist for metastatic UVM.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify prognostic biomarkers for uveal melanoma (UVM) metastasis.
• To develop a risk prediction model for UVM patients.
• To explore therapeutic strategies for metastatic UVM.

Main Methods:

• Integrated single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing data from TCGA and GEO cohorts.
• Identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between primary and metastatic UVM cells.
• Constructed an 11-gene risk model using LASSO regression and evaluated its performance.

Main Results:

• The 11-gene model stratified UVM patients into high- and low-risk groups with distinct survival outcomes.
• High-risk UVM patients displayed a more immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.
• Risk groups showed altered sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents and varying immune checkpoint gene expression.

Conclusions:

• Identified critical molecular features of UVM metastasis and immune remodeling.
• Provided novel prognostic markers for UVM.
• Suggested potential therapeutic targets for managing metastatic UVM.