Identification of transcriptional subtypes in lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma through integrative analysis of microarray and RNA sequencing data

Classification of tumors into subtypes can inform personalized approaches to treatment including the choice of targeted therapies. The two most common lung cancer histological subtypes, lung adenocarcinoma and lung squamous cell carcinoma, have been previously divided into transcriptional subtypes using microarray data, and corresponding signatures were subsequently used to classify RNA-seq data. Cross-platform unsupervised classification facilitates the identification of robust transcriptional subtypes by combining vast amounts of publicly available microarray and RNA-seq data. However, cross-platform classification is challenging because of intrinsic differences in data generated using the two gene expression profiling technologies. In this report, we show that robust gene expression subtypes can be identified in integrated data representing over 3500 normal and tumor lung samples profiled using two widely used platforms, Affymetrix HG-U133 Plus 2.0 Array and Illumina HiSeq RNA sequencing. We tested and analyzed consensus clustering for 384 combinations of data processing methods. The agreement between subtypes identified in single-platform and cross-platform normalized data was then evaluated using a variety of statistics. Results show that unsupervised learning can be achieved with combined microarray and RNA-seq data using selected preprocessing, cross-platform normalization, and unsupervised feature selection methods. Our analysis confirmed three lung adenocarcinoma transcriptional subtypes, but only two consistent subtypes in squamous cell carcinoma, as opposed to four subtypes previously identified. Further analysis showed that tumor subtypes were associated with distinct patterns of genomic alterations in genes coding for therapeutic targets. Importantly, by integrating quantitative proteomics data, we were able to identify tumor subtype biomarkers that effectively classify samples on the basis of both gene and protein expression. This study provides the basis for further integrative data analysis across gene and protein expression profiling platforms.

Automated summary

Classification of lung cancer subtypes based on different gene expression profiling technologies can inform personalized treatment approaches. By integrating microarray and RNA-seq data and utilizing specific preprocessing, cross-platform normalization, and unsupervised feature selection methods, robust gene expression subtypes can be identified. This study confirms the existence of three lung adenocarcinoma transcriptional subtypes, two squamous cell carcinoma subtypes, and shows that these tumor subtypes are associated with distinct patterns of genomic alterations in therapeutic target genes. Integration of quantitative proteomics data allows for the identification of tumor subtype biomarkers that effectively classify samples based on both gene and protein expression, providing a basis for further integrative data analysis across gene and protein expression profiling platforms.