Systematic analysis of the prognostic value and immunological function of LTBR in human cancer

Abstract

Lymphotoxin beta receptor (LTBR) is a positive T cell proliferation regulator gene. It is closely associated with the tumor immune microenvironment. However, its role in cancer and immunotherapy is unclear. Firstly, the expression level and prognostic value of LTBR were analyzed. Secondly, the expression of LTBR in clinical stages, immune subtypes, and molecular subtypes was analyzed. The correlation between LTBR and immune regulatory genes, immune checkpoint genes, and RNA modification genes was then analyzed. Correlations between LTBR and immune cells, scores, cancer-related functional status, tumor stemness index, mismatch repair (MMR) genes, and DNA methyltransferase were also analyzed. In addition, we analyzed the role of LTBR in DNA methylation, mutational status, tumor mutation burden (TMB), and microsatellite instability (MSI). Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were used to explore the role of LTBR in pan-cancer. Finally, the drugs associated with LTBR were analyzed. The expression of LTBR was confirmed using quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot. LTBR is significantly overexpressed in most cancers and is associated with low patient survival. In addition, LTBR expression was strongly correlated with immune cells, score, cancer-related functional status, tumor stemness index, MMR genes, DNA methyltransferase, DNA methylation, mutational status, TMB, and MSI. Enrichment analysis revealed that LTBR was associated with apoptosis, necroptosis, and immune-related pathways. Finally, multiple drugs targeting LTBR were identified. LTBR is overexpressed in several tumors and is associated with a poor prognosis. It is related to immune-related genes and immune cell infiltration.