To develop an individualized gene-based risk score to predict the prognosis of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) patients who received GC regimens. We downloaded transcriptome profiling data and clinical information from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. We identified 1854 survival-associated genes and then constructed the risk score based on six special genes selected from the survival-associated genes. We divided patients into high-risk and low-risk groups according to the median risk score. High-risk patients have significantly poorer overall survival than low-risk patients (log-rank test chi-square = 38.08, p = 7e-10, C-index = 0.785, se = 0.032). The risk score was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier survival curve, time-dependent ROC curves, and C-index. Multivariate Cox regression and nomogram suggested that the risk score was an independent prognostic indicator. Gene set enrichment analysis indicated that the survival-associated genes were significantly enriched in immune-related terms. Among six special genes, CHPF2, TRAV26-2, and BTF3P12 were found to be immune-related genes. In conclusion, our risk score provided an indicator to predict the prognosis of MIBC patients who received GC regimens and potential immunotherapeutic targets for MIBC.
Keywords: bladder cancer; chemotherapy; cisplatin; gemcitabine; prognosis.