Background: Although emerging studies support the relationship between S100 calcium binding protein A7 (S100A7) and various cancers, no pancancer analysis of S100A7 is available thus far.
Methods: We investigated the potential oncogenic roles of S100A7 across 33 tumors based on datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Moreover, a survival prognosis analysis was performed with the gene expression profiling interactive analysis (GEPIA) web server and Kaplan-Meier plotter, followed by the genetic alteration analysis of S100A7 and enrichment analysis of S100A7-related genes.
Results: S100A7 was highly expressed in most types of cancers, and remarkable associations were found between S100A7 expression and the prognosis of cancer patients. S100A7 expression was associated with the expression of DNA methyltransferase and mismatch repair genes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, the infiltration of CD8+ T cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts in different tumors. Moreover, glycosaminoglycan degradation and lysosome-associated functions were involved in the functional mechanisms of S100A7.
Conclusions: The current pancancer study shows a relatively integrative understanding of the carcinogenic involvement of S100A7 in numerous types of cancers.
Keywords: S100A7; cancer; methylation; mismatch repair; prognosis.