A Novel 7-Methylguanosine (m7G)-Related Gene Signature for Overall Survival Prediction in Patient with Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common pathology type of renal cancer that has an abysmal prognosis. Although a crucial role for 7-methylguanosine modification in cancer cell development has been reported, its role in ccRCC remains uncertain. This study was conducted to determine the efficacy of predictive biomarkers based on m7G-related genes in ccRCC. Firstly, we extracted clinical data and gene expression profiles of ccRCC patients from publicly accessible databases. It identified that 22 of the m7G-related 34 genes were related to overall survival, and 5 of the 22 genes were significantly expressed differently in tumor tissues. Based on Lasso regression analysis, five optimal genes (CYFIP2, EIF4A1, NUDT1, NUDT10, and NUDT4) were chosen to build a new predictive risk model in the TCGA cohort. Validation was carried out with the E-MTAB-1980 cohort. Then, a prognostic nomogram was erected, including the m7G-related gene risk score, age, histological grade, and stage status. Further studies and analysis showed that immune cell infiltration might be associated with the m7G-related risk genes. In addition, the relationship between gene expression and drug response was evaluated by the Pearson correlation test. Therefore, the risk signature with five selected m7G-related genes may be a promising prognostic biomarker and contribute to standardized prognostic assessment for ccRCC.