Identification and validation of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte-related prognosis signature for predicting prognosis and immunotherapeutic response in bladder cancer

BACKGROUND: It has been discovered that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are essential for the emergence of bladder cancer (BCa). This study aimed to research TIL-related genes (TILRGs) and create a gene model to predict BCa patients' overall survival. METHODS: The RNA sequencing and clinical data were downloaded from the TGCA and GEO databases. Using Pearson correlation analysis, TILRGs were evaluated. Moreover, hub TILRGs were chosen using a comprehensive analysis. By dividing the TCGA-BCa patients into different clusters based on hub TILRGs, we were able to explore the immune landscape between different clusters. RESULTS: Here, we constructed a model with five hub TILRGs and split all of the patients into two groups, each of which had a different prognosis and clinical characteristics, TME, immune cell infiltration, drug sensitivity, and immunotherapy responses. Better clinical results and greater immunotherapy sensitivity were seen in the low-risk group. Based on five hub TILRGs, unsupervised clustering analysis identify two molecular subtypes in BCa. The prognosis, clinical outcomes, and immune landscape differed in different subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: The study identifies a new prediction signature based on genes connected to tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, providing BCa patients with a new theoretical target. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12859-023-05241-z.