Identification of four genes associated with cutaneous metastatic melanoma

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous melanoma is an aggressive cancer with increasing incidence and mortality rates worldwide. Metastasis is one of the primary elements that influence the prognosis of patients with cutaneous melanoma. This study aims to clarify the potential mechanism underlying the low survival rate of metastatic melanoma and to search for novel target genes to improve the survival rate of patients with metastatic tumors. METHODS: Gene expression dataset and clinical data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas portal. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, and their functions were studied through gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses. Survival and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to screen out candidate genes that could affect the prognosis of patients with metastatic melanoma. RESULTS: After a series of comprehensive statistical analysis, 464 DEGs were identified between primary tumor tissues and metastatic tissues. Survival and multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed four vital genes, namely, POU2AF1, ITGAL, CXCR2P1, and MZB1, that affect the prognosis of patients with metastatic melanoma. CONCLUSION: This study provides a new direction for studying the pathogenesis of metastatic melanoma. The genes related to cutaneous metastatic melanoma that affect the overall survival time of patients were identified.