Cancers, Vol. 12, Pages 1324: An Integrated Genomic Strategy to Identify CHRNB4 as a Diagnostic/Prognostic Biomarker for Targeted Therapy in Head and Neck Cancer

Cancers, Vol. 12, Pages 1324: An Integrated Genomic Strategy to Identify CHRNB4 as a Diagnostic/Prognostic Biomarker for Targeted Therapy in Head and Neck Cancer Cancers doi: 10.3390/cancers12051324 Authors: Yi-Hsuan Chuang Chia-Hwa Lee Chun-Yu Lin Chia-Lin Liu Sing-Han Huang Jung-Yu Lee Yi-Yuan Chiu Jih-Chin Lee Jinn-Moon Yang Although many studies have shown the association between smoking and the increased incidence and adverse prognosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), the mechanisms and pharmaceutical targets involved remain unclear. Here, we integrated gene expression signatures, genetic alterations, and survival analyses to identify prognostic indicators and therapeutic targets for smoking HNSCC patients, and we discovered that the FDA-approved drug varenicline inhibits the target for cancer cell migration/invasion. We first identified 18 smoking-related and prognostic genes for HNSCC by using RNA-Seq and clinical follow-up data. One of these genes, CHRNB4 (neuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit beta-4), increased the risk of death by approximately threefold in CHRNB4-high expression smokers compared to CHRNB4-low expression smokers (log rank, p = 0.00042; hazard ratio, 2.82; 95% CI, 1.55–5.14), former smokers, and non-smokers. Furthermore, we examined the functional enrichment of co-regulated genes of CHRNB4 and its 246 frequently occurring copy number alterations (CNAs). We found that these genes were involved i...
Source: Cancers - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research