Construction and Validation of a Ferroptosis-Related Prognostic Model for Endometrial Cancer

ChaC1 upregulation reflects poor prognosis in a variety of cancers: analysis of the major missense SNPs of ChaC1 as an aid to refining prognosis

The ChaC1 enzyme that catalyzes cytosolic glutathione degradation is highly upregulated in several cancers. In a systematic review of gene signature panels for cancer prognosis based on oxidative stress and ferroptosis genes, we observed that ChaC1 was found in panels in a wide variety of different cancers, with the upregulation correlating with poor prognosis. Since SNPs can have an impact on functionality and prognosis, ChaC1 SNPs from various databases were also investigated. Six frequently observed missense SNPs were chosen for reconstruction, and their functionality was evaluated. Three out of six SNPs resulted in either a partial or complete loss of ChaC1 function, and these SNPs had the changes R72Q, A156V, and G173S in their proteins. This study highlights the importance of ChaC1 in cancer prognosis across a wide variety of cancers. Additionally, the information on the SNPs of ChaC1 with altered enzymatic activities would improve the prognostic ability of these panels and facilitate treatment regimens.

Ferroptosis, Metabolic Rewiring, and Endometrial Cancer

Ferroptosis is a newly discovered form of regulated cell death. The main feature of ferroptosis is excessive membrane lipid peroxidation caused by iron-mediated chemical and enzymatic reactions. In normal cells, harmful lipid peroxides are neutralized by glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4). When GPX4 is inhibited, ferroptosis occurs. In mammalian cells, ferroptosis serves as a tumor suppression mechanism. Not surprisingly, in recent years, ferroptosis induction has gained attention as a potential anticancer strategy, alone or in combination with other conventional therapies. However, sensitivity to ferroptosis inducers depends on the metabolic state of the cell. Endometrial cancer (EC) is the sixth most common cancer in the world, with more than 66,000 new cases diagnosed every year. Out of all gynecological cancers, carcinogenesis of EC is mostly dependent on metabolic abnormalities. Changes in the uptake and catabolism of iron, lipids, glucose, and glutamine affect the redox capacity of EC cells and, consequently, their sensitivity to ferroptosis-inducing agents. In addition to this, in EC cells, ferroptosis-related genes are usually mutated and overexpressed, which makes ferroptosis a promising target for EC prediction, diagnosis, and therapy. However, for a successful application of ferroptosis, the connection between metabolic rewiring and ferroptosis in EC needs to be deciphered, which is the focus of this review.

Integrating ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) and prognostic models to enhance UCEC outcome prediction and therapeutic insights

Ferroptosis is closely associated with uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) development. This project aimed to identify new potential biomarkers to predict the prognosis of UCEC. In this work, UCEC transcriptome data along with clinical information was retrieved from the TCGA database including a total of 382 FRGs. We performed univariate Cox regression analysis to evaluate ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) for prognostic significance. The genes with prognostic significance were then analyzed using LASSO-Cox to construct a prognosis model. The model genes were further characterized through various proteomic analyses and expression detection in clinical samples. A multivariate Cox regression model was constructed containing four FRGs (CDKN1A, CDKN2A, CEBPG, NOS2). Among four FRGs, higher expressions of CDKN2A, CEBPG, and NOS2 were associated with poorer overall survival probability, while higher expression of CDKN1A was associated with better overall survival probability. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the risk model was 0.617, 0.688, and 0.693 for 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years, respectively. Moreover, proteomic analysis showed that the protein expression of CDKN1A, CDKN2A, and CEBPG was higher in tumor tissues than that in normal tissues. Higher protein expression of CDKN1A and CDKN2A predicted poorer survival probability. Besides, CDKN1A protein had an interaction relationship with CDKN2A protein or NOS2 protein. In clinical samples, all four FRGs were upregulated in UCEC tissues, regardless of gene expression or protein expression. Our four FRGs risk model provides new insights for predicting the prognosis of UCEC patients.

Ferroptosis in epithelial ovarian cancer: a burgeoning target with extraordinary therapeutic potential

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is universally acknowledged as a terrifying women killer for its high mortality. Recent research advances support that ferroptosis, an emerging iron-dependent type of regulated cell death (RCD) triggered by the excessive accumulation of lipid peroxides probably possesses extraordinary therapeutic potential in EOC therapy. Herein, we firstly provide a very concise introduction of ferroptosis. Special emphasis will be put on the ferroptosis's vital role in EOC, primarily covering its role in tumorigenesis and progression of EOC, the capability of reversing chemotherapy resistance, and the research and development of related therapeutic strategies. Furthermore, the construction of ferroptosis-related prognostic prediction systems, and mechanisms of ferroptosis resistance in EOC are also discussed. Finally, we propose and highlight several important yet unanswered problems and some future research directions in this field.

Induction of ferroptosis and apoptosis in endometrial cancer cells by dihydroisotanshinone I

Danshen, also known as Salvia miltiorrhiza, is a medicinal herb used in traditional Chinese medicine. Its potential impact on endometrial cancer has not been thoroughly investigated. This study aimed to examine the effect of dihydroisotanshinone I (DT), a compound found in Danshen, on the viability of ARK1 and ARK2 endometrial cancer cells and its mechanisms. The results showed that 10 μM DT inhibited cell viability of ARK1 and ARK2 cells by inducing apoptosis and ferroptosis, which was achieved by blocking the expression of GPX4. In vivo experiments using a xenograft nude mouse model indicated that DT treatment significantly reduced tumor volume without causing any adverse effects. These findings suggest that DT may be a potential therapeutic agent for inhibiting endometrial cancer cell viability, but further research is needed to confirm these results.

Identification of inflammatory-related gene signatures to predict prognosis of endometrial carcinoma

Little is known about the prognostic risk factors of endometrial cancer. Therefore, finding effective prognostic factors of endometrial cancer is the vital for clinical theranostic. In this study, we constructed an inflammatory-related risk assessment model based on TCGA database to predict prognosis of endometrial cancer. We screened inflammatory genes by differential expression and prognostic correlation, and constructed a prognostic model using LASSO regression analysis. We fully utilized bioinformatics tools, including ROC curve, Kaplan-Meier analysis, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis and in vitro experiments to verify the accuracy of the prognostic model. Finally, we further analyzed the characteristics of tumor microenvironment and drug sensitivity of these inflammatory genes. The higher the score of the endometrial cancer risk model we constructed, the worse the prognosis, which can effectively provide decision-making help for clinical endometrial diagnosis and treatment.

Identification of immune-related ferroptosis prognostic marker and in-depth bioinformatics exploration of multi-omics mechanisms in thyroid cancer

Background: Factors such as variations in thyroid carcinoma (THCA) gene characteristics could influence the clinical outcome. Ferroptosis and immunity have been verified to play an essential role in various cancers, and could affect the cancer patients’ prognosis. However, their relationship to the progression and prognosis of many types of THCA remains unclear.

Methods: First, we extracted prognosis-related immune-related genes and ferroptosis-related genes from 2 databases for co-expression analysis to obtain prognosis-related differentially expressed immune-related ferroptosis genes (PR-DE-IRFeGs), and screened BID and CDKN2A for building a prognostic model. Subsequently, multiple validation methods were used to test the model’s performance and compare its performance with other 4 external models. Then, we explored the mechanism of immunity and ferroptosis in the occurrence, development and prognosis of THCA from the perspectives of anti-tumor immunity, CDKN2A-related competitive endogenous RNA regulatory, copy number variations and high frequency gene mutation. Finally, we evaluated this model’s clinical practice value.

Results: BID and CDKN2A were identified as prognostic risk and protective factors, respectively. External data and qRT-PCR experiment also validated their differential expression. The model’s excellent performance has been repeatedly verified and outperformed other models. Risk scores were significantly associated with most immune cells/functions. Risk score/2 PR-DE-IRFeGs expression was strongly associated with BRAF/NRAS/HRAS mutation. Single copy number deletion of CDKN2A is associated with upregulation of CDKN2A expression and worse prognosis. The predicted regulatory network consisting of CYTOR, hsa-miRNA-873-5p and CDKN2A was shown to significantly affect prognosis. The model and corresponding nomogram have been shown to have excellent clinical practice value.

Conclusion: The model can effectively predict the THCA patients’ prognosis and guide clinical treatment. Ferroptosis and immunity may be involved in the THCA’s progression through antitumor immunity and BRAF/NRAS/HRAS mutation. CYTOR-hsa-miRNA-873-5p-CDKN2A regulatory networks and single copy number deletion of CDKN2A may also affect THCA′ progression and prognosis.

Prediction of Prognosis in Patients With Endometrial Carcinoma and Immune Microenvironment Estimation Based on Ferroptosis-Related Genes

Background: Ferroptosis, a form of non-apoptotic cell death, has aroused worldwide interest in cancer researchers. However, the current study about the correlation between ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) and endometrial cancer (EC) remains limited.

Methods: First, the transcriptome profiling and clinical data of EC patients were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) program as the training group and testing group, respectively. FRGs were acquired through literature mining. Then, we used R 4.1.1 software to screen the differently expressed FRGs from TCGA, which was also connected with the prognosis of EC patients. Subsequently, the risk score of each tumor sample was identified by LASSO regression analysis, and we classified these samples into the high- and low-risk groups in the light of the median risk score. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and Kaplan-Meier analysis were performed to assess the accuracy of this signature. Significantly, the data from CPTAC was used to validate the prediction model externally. Furthermore, we evaluated the immune microenvironment in this model via single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA).

Results: Among the 150 FRGs, 6 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) based on TCGA had a relationship with the prognosis of EC patients, namely, TP53, AIFM2, ATG7, TLR4, PANX1 and MDM2. The survival curve indicated a higher survival probability in the low-risk group. Moreover, the FRGs-based signature acted well in the prediction of overall survival (OS). The results of external verification confirmed the prediction model we established. Finally, ssGSEA revealed significant differences in the abundance of 16 immune cells infiltration and the activity of 13 immune functions between different risk groups.

Conclusion: We identified a novel ferroptosis-related gene signature which could concisely predict the prognosis and immunotherapy in EC patients.

Ferroptosis: Opportunities and Challenges in Treating Endometrial Cancer

Ferroptosis, a new way of cell death, is involved in many cancers. A growing number of studies have focused on the unique role of ferroptosis on endometrial cancer. In this study, we made a comprehensive review of the relevant articles published to get deep insights in the association of ferroptosis with endometrial cancer and to present a summary of the roles of different ferroptosis-associated genes. Accordingly, we made an evaluation of the relationships between the ferroptosis-associated genes and TNM stage, tumor grade, histological type, primary therapy outcome, invasion and recurrence of tumor, and accessing the different prognosis molecular typing based on ferroptosis-associated genes. In addition, we presented an introduction of the common drugs, which targeted ferroptosis in endometrial cancer. In so doing, we clarified the opportunities and challenges of ferroptosis activator application in treating endometrial cancer, with a view to provide a novel approach to the disease.

Clinical Value Analysis of Combined Vaginal Ultrasound, Magnetic Resonance Dispersion Weighted Imaging, and Multilayer Spiral CT in the Diagnosis of Endometrial Cancer Using Deep VGG-16 AdaBoost Hybrid Classifier

Endometrial carcinoma is one of the most common disorders of the female reproductive system. Every year, around 76,000 women die from endometrial cancer around the world. Endometrial cancer is a significant factor in women’s health, particularly in industrialized nations, where the prevalence of this tumor type is the greatest. It is an important concern in women’s health because of disease mortality and the rising number of new diagnoses. The aim of the study was to investigate the clinical value of combined transvaginal ultrasound, magnetic resonance dispersion weighted imaging, and multilayer spiral computed tomography (CT) in the diagnosis of early-stage endometrial cancer. Initially, the dataset is collected that consisted of a total of 100 cases and split into the control group and experimental group of 50 cases in each group. The control group is diagnosed using conventional Doppler ultrasound diagnostic machine. The experimental group is diagnosed with combined ultrasound method. The ultrasound images thus obtained are preprocessed using the speckle-free adaptive wiener filter. The preprocessed images are segmented using the fuzzy clustering segmentation method. The features are extracted by the independent component analysis (ICA) method. We have proposed the deep VGG-16 AdaBoost hybrid classifier for classifying the normal and abnormal images. The clinical value of the diagnosis is analyzed using the parameters like diagnostic accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, and kappa coefficient. It is observed that the clinical value is better for the experimental group than the control group.

Ferroptosis: A New Road towards Cancer Management

Ferroptosis is a recently described programmed cell death mechanism that is characterized by the buildup of iron (Fe)-dependent lipid peroxides in cells and is morphologically, biochemically, and genetically distinct from other forms of cell death, having emerged to play an important role in cancer biology. Ferroptosis has significant importance during cancer treatment because of the combination of factors, including suppression of the glutathione peroxidase 4 (Gpx4), cysteine deficiency, and arachidonoyl (AA) peroxidation, which cause cells to undergo ferroptosis. However, the physiological significance of ferroptosis throughout development is still not fully understood. This current review is focused on the factors and molecular mechanisms with the diagrammatic illustrations of ferroptosis that have a role in the initiation and sensitivity of ferroptosis in various malignancies. This knowledge will open a new road for research in oncology and cancer management.