Prognostic and immunological role of cuproptosis-related protein FDX1 in pan-cancer

Background: Cancer is the second cause of death worldwide. Copperoptosis is a new mode of regulated cell death and is strongly associated with metabolic pathways. FDX1 is a key gene that promotes copperoptosis, and its impact on tumor pathogenesis and tumor immune response is indistinct and needs further exploration. Methods: Data was mined from the Cancer Genome Atlas database, the Broad Institute Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia database, and the International Cancer Genome Consortium. Survival analyses included the Kaplan-Meier method for calculating the cumulative incidence of survival events and the log-rank method for comparing survival curves between groups. Immune cell infiltration levels were calculated using the Spearman correlation test and correlated with FDX1 expression to assess significance. More correlation analyses between FDX1 expression and mutational markers, such as tumor mutational burden (TMB) and microsatellite instability (MSI), were also examined via Spearman assay to explore the relation between FDX1 expression and the sensitivity of common antitumor drugs. Results: FDX1 expression was downregulated in most kinds of cancers, and this high expression indicated better overall survival and death-specific survival. For several cancer types, FDX1 expression had a positive correlation with immune cell infiltration, and FDX1 also had a positive correlation with TMB and MSI in some cancer types, linking its expression to the assessment of possible treatment responses. Conclusion: The correlations between FDX1 expression and cancer in varioustissues, including clear links to cancer survival and prognosis, make FDX1 aninteresting biomarker and potential therapeutic target for cancer surveillance and futureresearch.

Automated summary

This study found that FDX1 gene is downregulated in various cancers, and its high expression is associated with better overall survival and death-specific survival. Additionally, FDX1 expression has a positive correlation with immune cell infiltration, tumor mutational burden, and microsatellite instability in certain cancer types. These findings suggest that FDX1 may serve as an interesting biomarker for cancer surveillance and future research.