Multiomic Analysis of Methylation and Transcriptome Reveals a Novel Signature in Esophageal Cancer

BACKGROUND: Epigenetic alterations have been shown to lead to human carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to perform an integrative analysis to develop an epigenetic signature to predict overall survival (OS) of esophageal cancer. METHODS: DNA methylation and messenger RNA expression data of esophageal cancer samples were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and were incorporated and analyzed using an R package MethylMix. Functional enrichment analysis of the methylation-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was performed. Epigenetic signature and nomogram associated with the OS of esophageal cancer were established by the multivariate Cox model. RESULTS: A total of 71 methylation-related DEGs were identified. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis revealed that these genes were involved in the biological process related to the initiation and progression of esophageal cancer. Two-gene (FAM24B and FAM200A) risk signature for OS was developed by multivariate Cox analysis, of which had high accuracy. The signature is independent of clinicopathological variables and indicated better predictive power than other clinicopathological variables. Moreover, we developed a novel prognostic nomogram based on risk score and 3 clinicopathological factors. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicated possible methylation-related DEGs and established an epigenetic signature, which may provide novel insights for understanding the pathogenesis of esophageal cancer.