Background

Within the tumor microenvironment, endothelial cells hold substantial sway over bladder cancer (BC) prognosis. Herein, we aim to elucidate the impact of endothelial cells on BC patient outcomes by employing an integration of single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing data.

Methods

All data utilized in this study were procured from online databases. R version 3.6.3 and relevant packages were harnessed for the development and validation of an endothelial-associated prognostic index (EPI).

Results

EPI was formulated, incorporating six genes (CYTL1, FAM43A, GSN, HSPG2, RBP7, and SLC2A3). EPI demonstrated significant prognostic value in both The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and externally validated dataset. Functional results revealed a profound association between EPI and endothelial cell functionality, as well as immune-related processes. Our findings suggest that patients with low-risk EPI scores are more likely to respond positively to immunotherapy, as indicated by immune checkpoint activity, immune infiltration, tumor mutational burden, stemness index, TIDE, and IMvigor210 analyses. Conversely, individuals with high-risk EPI scores exhibited heightened sensitivity to cisplatin, docetaxel, and gemcitabine treatment regimens.

Conclusion

We have effectively discerned pivotal genes from the endothelial cell perspective and constructed an EPI for BC patients, thereby offering promising prospects for precision medicine.

中文翻译：

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膀胱癌患者的内皮相关预后指数

背景

在肿瘤微环境中，内皮细胞对膀胱癌（BC）的预后具有重大影响。在此，我们的目标是通过整合单细胞和批量 RNA 测序数据来阐明内皮细胞对 BC 患者预后的影响。

方法

本研究中使用的所有数据均来自在线数据库。利用 R 版本 3.6.3 和相关包来开发和验证内皮相关预后指数 (EPI)。

结果

EPI 的配方包含 6 个基因（CYTL1、FAM43A、GSN、HSPG2、RBP7 和 SLC2A3）。 EPI 在癌症基因组图谱 (TCGA) 和外部验证的数据集中证明了显着的预后价值。功能结果揭示了 EPI 与内皮细胞功能以及免疫相关过程之间的深刻关联。我们的研究结果表明，免疫检查点活性、免疫浸润、肿瘤突变负荷、干性指数、TIDE 和 IMvigor210 分析表明，低风险 EPI 评分的患者更有可能对免疫治疗产生积极反应。相反，具有高风险 EPI 评分的个体对顺铂、多西他赛和吉西他滨治疗方案表现出更高的敏感性。

结论

我们从内皮细胞的角度有效识别了关键基因，并为BC患者构建了EPI，从而为精准医疗提供了广阔的前景。