Open Access Journal Article

Correlation between the immune microenvironment and bladder cancer based on a prognostic miRNA risk model

by Kun Mei a,1 ,  Zilu Chen b,1 ,  Le Huang c ,  Joyce Wang d  and  Yong Wei e,*
a
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou 213003, China
b
Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
c
Department of Medicine, MetroWest Medical Center/Tufts University School of Medicine, Framingham, MA, USA
d
Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Kansas University Medical Center, GI Oncology Working Group, Kansas City, KS, USA
e
Department of Urology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
CI  2024, 34; 3(2), 34; https://doi.org/10.58567/ci03020002
Received: 19 November 2023 / Accepted: 2 January 2024 / Published Online: 4 January 2024
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Abstract

Background: Bladder cancer (BLCA), particularly invasive BLCA, has become a medical burden worldwide as it is associated with recurrence and easy metastasis. There are specific differences in the expression of various miRNAs in tumor and normal tissues. Hence, miRNAs can be used as biomarkers for tumor diagnosis and prognostic evaluation. The current study aimed to predict the downstream target genes of BLCA-related miRNAs and explore their association with immune infiltration. Method: Data on BLCA-related mRNA and miRNA expression levels were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Correlation analysis and Cox regression analysis were performed to validate the miRNA risk model. The infiltration of various immune cells should be compared to determine the distinct differences between the immunological microenvironment of the two risk groups. Results: A predictive framework of BLCA was established using the expression levels of two miRNAs. Cox regression analysis showed that the low-risk group had a better prognosis. Then, the target genes of miRNA were predicted, and the target genes were analyzed using Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Moreover, variations in immune cells and functions between the high- and low-risk groups were assessed. Conclusion: The prognostic features composed of two associated miRNAs (MIR-25, MIR-548AN) may help predict the overall survival of BLCA.

Keywords: Bladder cancer; biomarker; miRNA; prognosis; GEO;
Copyright: © 2024 by Mei, Chen, Huang, Wang and Wei. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.