Background: An increasing number of studies are indicating that the stemness phenotype is a critical determinant of the Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patient's response. Thus, it is crucial to identify novel biomarkers for stemness determination.
Objective: Here, we aim to develop a robust LncRNAs based prognostic signature with a stemness association for the LUAD patients.
Methods: RNA-seq and clinical data were downloaded from the existing database. The data were analysed using Cox regression, KM-plot, GSEA, and T-test.
Results: Initially, we used the TCGA dataset to characterize the stemness phenotype in LUAD. The commonly expressed LncRNAs in TCGA and MCTP cohort were then used as input for the Cox-regression analysis. The top three LncRNAs were selected to build a prognostic model, which was the best prognosticator in multivariate analysis with stage and previously published prognosticators. The characterization of poor surviving patients using various analysis showed high stemness properties and low expression of differentiation markers. Furthermore, we validated the prognostic score in an independent MCTP cohort of patients. In the MCTP cohort, prognostic score significantly predicted survival independent of stage and previous prognosticators.
Conclusion: Taken together, in this study, we have developed and validated a new prognostic score associated with the stemness phenotype.
Keywords: Lung cancer; biomarker; prognostic model; stemness.