Gene Expression Profiling Stratifies IDH-Wildtype Glioblastoma With Distinct Prognoses

Objectives: In the present study, we aimed to determine the candidate genes that may function as biomarkers to further distinguish patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-wildtype glioblastoma (GBM), which are heterogeneous with respect to clinical outcomes. Materials and Methods: We selected 41 candidate genes associated with overall survival (OS) using univariate Cox regression from IDH-wildtype GBM patients based on RNA sequencing (RNAseq) expression data from the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA, n = 105) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA, n = 139) cohorts. Next, a seven-gene-based risk signature was formulated according to Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression algorithm in the CGGA RNAseq database as a training set, while another 525 IDH-wildtype GBM patient TCGA datasets, consisting of RNA sequencing and microarray data, were used for validation. Patient survival in the low- and high-risk groups was calculated using Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis and the log-rank test. Uni-and multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to assess the prognosis value. Gene oncology (GO) and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) were performed for the functional analysis of the seven-gene-based risk signature. Results: We developed a seven-gene-based signature, which allocated each patient to a risk group (low or high). Patients in the high-risk group had dramatically shorter overall survival than their low-risk counterparts in three independent cohorts. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that the seven-gene signature remained an independent prognostic factor. Moreover, the seven-gene risk signature exhibited a striking prognostic validity, with AUC of 78.4 and 73.9%, which was higher than for traditional “age” (53.7%, 62.4%) and “GBM sub-type” (57.7%, 52.9%) in the CGGA- and TCGA-RNAseq databases, respectively. Subsequent bioinformatics analysis predicted that the seven-gene signature was involved in the inflammatory response, immune response, cell adhesion, and apoptotic process. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the seven-gene signature could be a potential prognostic biomarker. This study refined the current classification system of IDH-wildtype GBM and may provide a novel perspective for the research and individual therapy of IDH-wildtype GBM.