Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the most common subtype of nonsmall cell lung cancer, and 5-year survival rate is only 15% in recent years. This study aimed to explore the FAM83A expression and its potential functions in LUAD. Data of LUAD were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Expression level of FAM83A was compared between LUAD samples and adjacent normal samples. The association between FAM83A expression and clinic-pathological parameters was analyzed, as well as copy number variation and methylation status. Kaplan-Meier curve was used to visualize the relationship of FAM83A expression with survival outcomes. Finally, gene set enrichment analysis was used to identify potential signaling pathways in LUAD specimens. FAM83A expression was significantly correlated with four clinical factors in LUAD specimens, age, gender, smoking, and overall survival status (all p < 0.05). High expression level of FAM83A was negatively correlated with methylation level. Moreover, patients in low expression groups exhibited a better prognosis than those in high expressed groups, which was independent of gender (p < 0.001). Histidine metabolism pathway was significantly upregulated in FAM83A-high expressed samples than FAM83A-low expressed samples according to functional enrichment analysis. High expression of FAM83A predicted a poor prognosis in LUAD patients. Our study demonstrated that FAM83A might be a potential biomarker and meaningful therapeutic target in LUAD.
Keywords: FAM83A; histidine metabolism pathway; lung adenocarcinoma; prognosis.