This study investigated the expression of zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 2 (ZEB2), its prognostic significance in various cancers, and the correlation between ZEB2 and infiltrating immune cells and ZEB2-related proteins in ovarian cancer (OV). The Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis tool was used to analyze RNA sequencing data and cancer survival rates, based on normal and tumor tissue data available in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The Kaplan-Meier plotter and PrognoScan databases were used to analyze the prognostic value of ZEB2 in OV (n = 1144). The Tumor Immune Estimation Resource was used to investigate the correlation between ZEB2 and infiltrating immune cells in various cancers, including OV. High ZEB2 expression was associated with a poorer prognosis in OV. In OV, ZEB2 is positively correlated with CD8+T cells, neutrophils, macrophages, and dendritic cell invasion; and ZEB2 is negatively correlated with tumor-infiltrating B cells. The STRING database was used to investigate the correlations with ZEB2-related proteins. The results reveal that ZEB2 was positively correlated with SMAD1 and SMAD2 in OV. Our findings may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker, and provide novel insights into the tumor immunology in OV. Thus, ZEB2 may be a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target in OV.
Keywords: ZEB2; biomarker; immune cells; ovarian cancer; prognosis.