BTG2 Serves as a Potential Prognostic Marker and Correlates with Immune Infiltration in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Xiao Zhen Zhang; Mao Jian Chen; Ping Ming Fan; Wei Jiang; Shi Xiong Liang

doi:10.2147/IJGM.S340565

BTG2 Serves as a Potential Prognostic Marker and Correlates with Immune Infiltration in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Int J Gen Med. 2022 Mar 8:15:2727-2745. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S340565. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xiao Zhen Zhang^#¹, Mao Jian Chen^#^{2

3}, Ping Ming Fan⁴, Wei Jiang³, Shi Xiong Liang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital, Nanning, 530021, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, 510060, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Respiratory Oncology, Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital, Nanning, 530021, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Department of Breast-Thoracic Tumor Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haikou, 570102, Hainan, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: B-cell translocation gene 2 (BTG2) has been revealed to be involved in the occurrence and development of multiple cancers. However, the role of BTG2 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is still ambiguous. Thus, this study aims to investigate the prognostic value of BTG2 and its correlation with immune infiltration in LUAD.

Methods: The expression of BTG2 in LUAD was analyzed using the TIMER and UALCAN databases. The correlations between BTG2 expression and clinicopathological factors were investigated using the UALCAN databases. The Kaplan-Meier plotter, GEPIA, and TCGA databases were employed to assess the prognostic value of BTG2. The STRING database and Cytoscape software were used to construct an interaction network and mine co-expression genes. The TISIDB database was examined for a correlation between BTG2 and driver genes in LUAD. Enrichment analysis of co-expressed genes and BTG2 was performed using the LinkedOmics database. Finally, the correlations between BTG2 and immune infiltrates were investigated using the TIMER, GEO, and TISIDB database.

Results: BTG2 was significantly downregulated in LUAD. The decreased expression of BTG2 in LUAD was significantly correlated with higher cancer stages and shorter duration of overall survival. The expressions of BTG2-related co-expression genes were associated with the prognosis in LUAD. The expression of BTG2 was closely associated with the mutations of TP53 and ROS1. Enrichment analysis revealed that BTG2 was significantly correlated with immune-associated signaling pathways and function. In addition, the expression of BTG2 was found to be closely related to immune infiltration, multiple gene markers of immune cells, chemokines, and chemokine receptors.

Conclusion: Our findings have effectively demonstrated that BTG2 expression was downregulated in LUAD, indicating poor prognosis. Closely relating to immune cell infiltration, BTG2 may be a promising immune-related biomarker and molecular target for patients with LUAD.

Keywords: BTG2; gene mutation; immune infiltration; lung adenocarcinoma; prognosis biomarker.

Grants and funding

The work was funded by the Key Program of Science and Technology of Guangxi, China (GuikeAB20159024), Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (2018GXNSFAA281057), and Beijing Xisike Clinical Oncology Research Foundation (Y-2019AZQN-04532).