RAD51 expression in pan-cancer and its prognostic and immune mechanisms in glioma
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Updated: Oct 30, 2026
Isolation and Flow Cytometric Analysis of Glioma-infiltrating Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells
Published on: November 28, 2015
Liubing Hou1, Yu Wang2, Xiang Zhan2
1Department of Radiotherapy, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050000, PR China; Department of Central Laboratory, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050000, PR China.
Objective:
Glioma is a heterogeneous, malignant intracranial tumor with dismal prognosis, lacking effective diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. The DNA repair gene RAD51 participates in tumor progression, while its clinical function and immune regulatory mechanism in glioma remain undefined. This study aimed to clarify RAD51's expression features, clinical significance and immunomodulatory role in glioma.
Methods:
Data from TCGA, CGGA325 and CGGA693 glioma cohorts were utilized to analyze RAD51 expression, its links with clinicopathological features and prognosis. ROC curve, survival analysis, Cox regression and nomogram modeling were performed for clinical evaluation. Multiple bioinformatics analyses were conducted to explore tumor immune microenvironment regulation, and clinical specimens were used for protein expression verification.
Results:
RAD51 was markedly overexpressed in glioma and pan-cancers, correlated with elevated tumor stemness and poor prognosis. Its high expression was associated with advanced age, higher WHO grade, IDH wild-type and 1p/19q non-codeletion. With an AUC of 0.960, RAD51 showed excellent diagnostic efficacy and was an independent adverse prognostic factor. The validated nomogram achieved accurate risk prediction. Mechanistically, high RAD51 was associated with an immunosuppressive microenvironment and correlated with increased infiltration of Th2 cells and macrophages.Nineteen core RAD51-related immune genes were identified and linked to poor prognosis. Clinical tests confirmed upregulated RAD51 protein in high-grade gliomas.
Conclusion:
RAD51 is a robust diagnostic biomarker and independent prognostic risk factor for glioma. It is correlated with glioma malignant features and shows potential links to altered immune-gene expression and immunosuppressive microenvironment. The nomogram supports clinical risk stratification, providing novel targets for glioma prognosis evaluation and immunotherapy.
