2016年5月29日讯 /生物谷BIOON/ –研究人员最近发现一组免疫相关基因可能会影响多形性成胶质细胞瘤病人的生存时间,相关研究结果在线发表在国际学术期刊Neurology上。多形性成胶质细胞瘤是神经胶质细胞形成的一种常见脑癌类型,这类肿瘤生长迅速,即使进行了手术,放疗以及化疗,患者平均生存时间也不超过两年。
在这项研究中,研究人员对297名脑部肿瘤患者的组织样本进行了研究,其中有127人患有成胶质细胞瘤,另外170人患有低级别胶质瘤,这也是一种由神经胶质细胞形成的肿瘤,但侵袭性弱于成胶质细胞瘤。研究人员经过基因组测序分析发现有322个免疫相关基因存在差异,其中有8个基因在成胶质细胞瘤中发挥重要作用,而这8个基因中有3个基因具有对抗成胶质细胞瘤的保护作用,而其他5个基因则会增加病人的死亡风险。研究人员根据这8个基因建立了用于风险分层的基因特征,并且发现定义为高风险的病人其死亡时间要早于低风险病人,这种分层方式也同样适用于低级别胶质瘤病人。
研究人员在矫正了其他可能影响病人生存时间的因素之后,比如不同的治疗方式,结果仍然相同。他们还对另外一个由536个成胶质细胞瘤样本组成的数据库进行了分析,也发现了相同的基因特征。
目前脑癌研究领域存在的一个问题在于仍然不清楚免疫治疗是否能够帮助控制这些严重疾病,虽然这项研究并未给出明确答案,但是仍然为利用免疫系统更好地治疗成胶质细胞瘤提供了重要线索,作者相信终有一天科学研究会给出答案。(基因宝jiyinbao.com)
Bioinformatic profiling identifies an immune-related risk signature for glioblastoma
Wen Cheng, MD, PhD, Xiufang Ren, MM, Chuanbao Zhang, MD, PhD, Jinquan Cai, MD, PhD, Yang Liu, MM, Sheng Han, MD, PhD and Anhua Wu, MD, PhD
Results: Distinct local immune status was identified according to histologic grade. Glioblastoma (GBM) exhibited an enhanced immune phenotype compared to lower grade glioma. We profiled the immune-related gene set and identified 8 genes (FOXO3, IL6, IL10, ZBTB16, CCL18, AIMP1, FCGR2B, and MMP9) with the greatest prognostic value in GBM. A local immune-related risk signature was developed from the genes to distinguish cases as high or low risk of unfavorable prognosis, which could be validated in TCGA database. High-risk patients conferred an enhanced intensity of local immune response compared to low-risk ones. Additionally, the signature exhibited different distribution based on molecular features. The signature had prognostic significance in the stratified cohorts and was identified as an independent prognostic factor for GBM.
Conclusions: We profiled the immune status in glioma and established a local immune signature for GBM, which could independently identify patients with a high risk of reduced survival, indicating the relationship between prognosis and local immune response.