Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40313932›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in immunology2025

A new predictive factor VGF based on IHC experiments, gene pathways and molecular functional groups for tumor immune microenvironment and prognosis of adrenocortical carcinoma.

Junpeng Chi, Keyuan Lou, Jiankun Zhang, Jitao Wu, Yuanshan Cui

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Article in Frontiers in immunology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Junpeng ChiDepartment of Urology, The Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai, China.
Keyuan LouDepartment of Urology, The Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai, China.
Jiankun ZhangDepartment of Urology, The Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai, China.
Jitao WuDepartment of Urology, The Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai, China.
Yuanshan CuiDepartment of Urology, The Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare and aggressive malignancy with a poor prognosis, and its clinical management remains a significant challenge due to the high recurrence rates and limited treatment options. Despite advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying ACC, no reliable biomarkers have been validated for routine clinical use. Methods: We analyzed RNA sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database (n=79) and Genotype Tissue Expression (GTEx) database (n=128) to investigate the expression of VGF in ACC and normal adrenal tissues. Gene expression levels of VGF were quantified and correlated with clinicopathological features and survival outcomes. Statistical methods included Cox proportional hazards models and Kaplan-Meier analysis, while Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was utilized to identify relevant biological pathways associated with VGF expression. Clinical data from 7 ACC patients from YANTAI YUHUANGDING Hospital were also analyzed. The expression of VGF in ACC and normal adrenal gland tissue was further validated through IHC experiments. Results: Our results demonstrate that VGF expression is elevated in ACC tissues compared to normal adrenal tissues and is significantly associated with advanced disease stages, lymph node involvement, metastasis and poor overall survival. VGF levels also correlate with immune cell infiltration, including Th2 cells, T helper cells, and Neutrophils. Importantly, our study establishes VGF as a potential prognostic biomarker for ACC and highlights its role in tumor progression and immune modulation. Additionally, GSEA analysis suggests that VGF is involved in cytokine receptor interaction and the P13K-Akt signaling pathway, possibly relating to tumor immunity. Conclusions: VGF could serve as a valuable marker for patient stratification, monitoring disease progression, and predicting responses to immunotherapies. Future studies should focus on investigating circulating VGF levels as a non-invasive biomarker for ACC to improve clinical management and treatment outcomes.

Indexed as

Adrenal Cortex NeoplasmsAdrenocortical CarcinomaBiomarkers, TumorTumor MicroenvironmentAdultAgedFemaleGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansImmunohistochemistryMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisBiomarkers, Tumoradrenocortical carcinomagene expressionimmune microenvironmentsurvival prognosis analysisVGF nerve growth factor inducible

Identifiers

PMID40313932
PMCPMC12043488

What Socratic holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.