BIRC5 as a prognostic and diagnostic biomarker in pan-cancer: an integrated analysis of expression, immune subtypes, and functional networks

Guoyu Li; Yanghao Wang; Weizhou Wang; Guodong Lv; Xiang Li; Jingying Wang; Xiuyu Liu; Daolang Yuan; Shoujun Deng; Dingyun You

doi:10.3389/fgene.2024.1509342

BIRC5 as a prognostic and diagnostic biomarker in pan-cancer: an integrated analysis of expression, immune subtypes, and functional networks

Front Genet. 2024 Dec 5:15:1509342. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1509342. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Guoyu Li^#¹, Yanghao Wang^#², Weizhou Wang^#³, Guodong Lv⁴, Xiang Li⁴, Jingying Wang⁴, Xiuyu Liu⁴, Daolang Yuan⁴, Shoujun Deng⁵, Dingyun You⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Colorectal Surgery, Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
² Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
³ Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
⁴ Clinical College, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
⁵ Department of Thoracic Surgery, Yanan Hospital Affiliated to Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
⁶ School of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Introduction: BIRC5 (Survivin) is a crucial anti-apoptotic protein overexpressed in various cancers, promoting tumor growth and treatment resistance. This study investigates its expression across 33 cancer types and explores its diagnostic, prognostic, and immune-related significance.

Methods: We analyzed RNA-seq data from TCGA and protein expression data from the Human Protein Atlas. Expression levels were compared between tumor and normal tissues. Correlations with molecular and immune subtypes were explored using TISIDB. Prognostic significance was evaluated through survival analysis, Cox regression, and ROC curve analysis. The PPI network was constructed using STRING.

Results: BIRC5 was significantly overexpressed in tumor tissues across 33 cancer types, with higher expression levels observed in tumors compared to normal tissues. The protein expression analysis revealed a similar trend. BIRC5 expression was significantly correlated with various molecular and immune subtypes in multiple cancer types. Survival analysis indicated that high BIRC5 expression was associated with poor prognosis across multiple cancers, including lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC). ROC analysis showed that BIRC5 exhibited strong diagnostic potential, with high AUC values (>0.9) in several cancers. The PPI network analysis identified key interacting proteins involved in the cell cycle and tumor progression, further supporting BIRC5's role in cancer biology. Functional experiments in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) revealed that BIRC5 upregulation enhances cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, while its knockdown suppresses these activities.

Discussion: BIRC5 is a promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in multiple cancers. Its association with immune subtypes suggests a potential role in the tumor immune microenvironment. These findings support BIRC5 as a therapeutic target for cancer treatment.

Keywords: BIRC5; cancer prognosis; diagnostic biomarker; lung adenocarcinoma; tumor immune microenvironment.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China (82360485, 82460428, 82073569), Biomedical Specialization of Yunnan Province (202402AA310012), the Innovative Research Team of Yunnan Province (202405AS350016), the 76th Batch of the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation General Funding-Regional Special Support Program (2024MD763983), Yunnan Health Training Project of High Level talents (H-2024026), Youth Project of Yunnan Basic Research Programme of Yunnan Provincial Department of Science and Technology (202401AU070046), Teachers’ Project of Scientific Research Fund of Yunnan Provincial Department of Education - Special Project on Basic Research for Young Talents (2024J0180), Innovation Fund for Doctoral Students of Kunming Medical University (2024B005), Kunming Medical University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program Project (S202410678033, 202410678007, 202410678014, 202410678028, 202410678022).