KLRB1 is a novel prognostic biomarker in endometrial cancer and is associated with immune infiltration

Chunyun Liang; Yue Chen; Si Chen; Jingyao She; Qiuyan Shi; Peijuan Wang

doi:10.21037/tcr-23-697

KLRB1 is a novel prognostic biomarker in endometrial cancer and is associated with immune infiltration

Transl Cancer Res. 2023 Dec 31;12(12):3641-3652. doi: 10.21037/tcr-23-697. Epub 2023 Nov 21.

Authors

Chunyun Liang^{1

2

3}, Yue Chen^{2

3}, Si Chen^{2

3}, Jingyao She^{1

2

3}, Qiuyan Shi^{1

2

3}, Peijuan Wang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Third Clinical Medical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
² Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing, China.
³ Jiangsu Province Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.

Abstract

Background: Endometrial cancer (EC) has the characteristics of high mortality and poor prognosis in the advanced stage, which seriously threatens women's health. Killer cell lectin-like receptor B1 (KLRB1) is a promising immune checkpoint of which the expression level can regulate the killing effect on tumor cells of the immune system, thereby affecting the survival and prognosis of tumor patients. However, it is still unclear whether KLRB1 is associated with survival and prognosis in patients with EC. Therefore, our study focused on the relationship between KLRB1 and immune cells to explore the role of KLRB1 on the immune microenvironment, and to further explore its feasibility as a prognostic marker in EC.

Methods: In this study, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases were used to analyze the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression level of KLRB1 in normal endometrial and EC tissues. The University of Alabama at Birmingham Cancer data analysis Portal (UALCAN) database was used to determine the correlation between KLRB1 mRNA expression and clinical features among the EC patients. KLRB1 expression levels were investigated in the Tumor IMmune Estimation Resource (TIMER) database to reveal its relationship with immune cell infiltration of EC. Finally, using the R package clusterProfiler, enrichment analysis was performed on KLRB1 to study its potential function.

Results: The results suggested that KLRB1 expression varied in different tumor tissues, and the EC group had lower mRNA expression levels than did the control group. It was also found that patients with high expression of KLRB1 had a better prognosis. According to further enrichment and immune infiltration analyses, KLRB1 expression had a closed relationship with the level of infiltration of some immune cell types, such as B cells memory, eosinophils, and Tregs, among others.

Conclusions: KLRB1 expression is associated with the infiltration of immune cells and can be used as a prognostic biomarker in EC.

Keywords: Endometrial cancer (EC); KLRB1; immune infiltration; prognostic biomarker.