Exploration of methylation-driven genes for monitoring and prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND: As one of the most common malignant tumors in humans, lung cancer has experienced a gradual increase in morbidity and mortality. This study examined prognosis-related methylation-driven genes specific to lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) to provide a basis for prognosis prediction and personalized targeted therapy for LUAD patients. METHODS: The methylation and survival time data from LUAD patients in the TCGA database were downloaded. The MethylMix algorithm was used to identify the differential methylation status of LUAD and adjacent tissues based on the β-mixture model to obtain disease-related methylation-driven genes. A COX regression model was then used to screen for LUAD prognosis-related methylation-driven genes, and a linear risk model based on five methylation-driven gene expression profiles was constructed. A methylation and gene expression combined survival analysis was performed to further explore the prognostic value of 5 genes independently. RESULTS: There were 118 differentially expressed methylation-driven genes in the LUAD tissues and adjacent tissues. Five of the genes, CCDC181, PLAU, S1PR1, ELF3, and KLHDC9, were used to construct a prognostic risk model. Overall, the survival time was significantly lower in the high-risk group compared with that in the low-risk group (P < 0.05). In addition, the methylation and gene expression combined survival analysis found that the combined expression levels of the genes CCDC181, PLAU, and S1PR1 as well as KLHDC9 alone can be used as independent prognostic markers or drug targets. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide an important bioinformatic basis and relevant theoretical basis for guiding subsequent LUAD early diagnosis and prognosis assessments. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12935-018-0691-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.