KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to conduct a pan-cancer analysis for oncogenic mechanisms and of EphA2 across 33 different types of tumors.
- EphA2 emerged as a potential biomarker for poor prognosis and immune infiltration in cancer.
Although a significant relationship has been established between Ephrin receptor A2 (EphA2) and malignant progression in numerous cancers yet, there is a lack of pan-cancer analysis for the prognostic value, mutation status, methylation landscape, and potential immunological function of EphA2.
Yuchun Li and the team aimed to analyze EphA2 expression dynamics between normal and tumor tissues and assess EphA2’s impact on tumor prognosis across various cancer types.
Researchers investigated the differences in EphA2 expression between normal and tumor tissues as well as its impact on the cancer prognosis by using the Cancer Genome Atlas, Genotype Tissue Expression Database and GEO data. They conducted a comprehensive analysis of EphA2’s potential oncogenic mechanisms across 33 different tumor types by employing GSCALite, cBioPortal, TISDB, ULCLAN, and TIMER 2.0 databases.
The analysis included tumor mutation status, DNA methylation status, immune cell infiltration, and correlations with immune checkpoints, tumor mutational burden, DNA microsatellite instability, and DNA repair genes. Moreover, they validated the effects of EphA2 inhibitors on human glioma and lung cancer cell proliferation through cellular experiments.
EphA2 shows differential expression across tumors, correlating with poorer overall survival in patients with overexpressed EphA2. It exhibits mutations, copy number variations, and DNA/RNA methylation changes in various cancers. EphA2 is also linked to increased immune infiltration by macrophages and CD8+ T cells, and its mRNA expression correlates significantly with immune checkpoints, notably programmed death-ligand 1. Additionally, the EphA2 inhibitor ALW-II-41-27 demonstrates strong anti-tumor efficacy.
The pan-cancer analysis highlights the prognostic and immunological roles of EphA2 across different types of cancers, indicating it to be a potential biomarker for poor prognosis and immune infiltration in cancer.
No funding information was provided.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38886133/
Li Y., Fei H., Xiao Z., et al. (2024). “Comprehensive analysis of EphA2 in pan-cancer: A prognostic biomarker associated with cancer immunity.” Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2024 Aug;51(8):e13902. doi: 10.1111/1440-1681.13902. PMID: 38886133.
