A Novel Prognostic Ferroptosis-Related Long Noncoding RNA Signature in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common primary malignancy of renal cancer in adults. Ferroptosis is critically associated with the prognosis of ccRCC. However, knowledge of long noncoding RNA- (lncRNA-) related ferroptosis that affects the prognosis of ccRCC is still insufficient. Using the LASSO regression, we created a risk model based on differentially expressed ferroptosis-related lncRNAs (FRLRS) in ccRCC. The analysis of Kaplan-Meier for survival, area under the curve (AUC) for diagnosis, nomogram for predicting overall survival, and gene expression for immune checkpoints were performed based on the screened independent prognostic factors. Nine lncRNAs were found to be associated with ccRCC prognosis. Furthermore, the prognostic AUC of the FRLRS signature was 0.78, demonstrating its usefulness in predicting ccRCC prognosis. The lncRNA risk model outperformed the standard clinical variables in predicting ccRCC prognosis. Finally, The Cancer Genome Atlas revealed that T cell functions, such as cytolytic activity, human leukocyte antigen activity, inflammation regulation, and type II interferon response coordination, are significantly different between two different risk levels of ccRCC. Immune checkpoints were also expressed differently in programmed cell death 1 receptor, inducible T cell costimulator, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4, and leukocyte-associated immunoglobulin-like receptor 1. The nine FRLRS signature models may affect the prognosis of ccRCC.

Automated summary

The study identified nine long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) associated with the prognosis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and created a risk model based on these RNAs, which successfully predicted the prognosis of ccRCC. The research also demonstrated significant differences in T cell functions and immune checkpoint expressions between different risk levels of ccRCC.