EMT-related gene expression is positively correlated with immunity and may be derived from stromal cells in osteosarcoma

BACKGROUND: Osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer in children and young adults. Recent studies have shown a correlation between epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related gene expression and immunity in human cancers. Here, we investigated the relationship among EMT, immune activity, stromal activity and tumor purity in osteosarcoma. METHODS: We defined EMT gene signatures and evaluated immune activity and stromal activity based on the gene expression and clinical data from three independent microarray datasets. These factors were evaluated by single sample Gene Set Enrichment Analyses and the ESTIMATE tool. Finally, we analyzed the key source of EMT gene expression in osteosarcoma using microarray datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus and human samples that we collected. RESULTS: EMT-related gene expression was positively correlated with immune and stromal activity in osteosarcoma. Tumor purity was negatively correlated with EMT, immune activity and stromal cells. We further demonstrated that high EMT gene expression could significantly predict poor overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in osteosarcoma patients, while high immune activity cannot. However, combining these factors could have further prognostic value for osteosarcoma patients in terms of OS and RFS. Finally, we found that stromal cells may serve as a key source of EMT gene expression in osteosarcoma. CONCLUSION: The results of this study reveal that the expression of EMT genes and immunity are positively correlated, but these signatures convey disparate prognostic information. Furthermore, the results indicate that EMT-related gene expression may be derived from stromal rather than epithelial cancer cells.