Transcriptomic analysis identifies CYP27A1 as a diagnostic marker for the prognosis and immunity in lung adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND: The association between lipid metabolism disorder and carcinogenesis is well-established, but there is limited research on the connection between lipid metabolism-related genes (LRGs) and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). The objective of our research was to identify LRGs as the potential biomarkers for prognosis and assess their impact on immune cell infiltration in LUAD. METHODS: We identified novel prognostic LRGs for LUAD patients via the bioinformatics analysis. CYP27A1 expression level was systematically evaluated via various databases, such as TCGA, UALCAN, and TIMER. Subsequently, LinkedOmics was utilized to perform the CYP27A1 co-expression network and GSEA. ssGSEA was conducted to assess the association between infiltration of immune cells and CYP27A1 expression. CYP27A1’s expression level was validated by qRT-PCR analysis. RESULTS: CYP27A1 expression was decreased in LUAD. Reduced CYP27A1 expression was linked to unfavorable prognosis in LUAD. Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that CYP27A1 was an independent prognostic biomarker for LUAD patients. GSEA results revealed a positive correlation between CYP27A1 expression and immune-related pathways. Furthermore, CYP27A1 expression was positively correlated with the infiltration levels of most immune cells. CONCLUSION: CYP27A1 is a potential biomarker for LUAD patients, and our findings provided a novel perspective to develop the prognostic marker for LUAD patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12865-023-00572-1.