Solute Carrier Family 7 Member 11 (SLC7A11) is a Potential Prognostic Biomarker in Uterine Corpus Endometrial Carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) is a common type of gynecological cancers, second only to cervical cancer in incidence. Thus, it is necessary to develop effective therapies and identify biomarkers for its prognosis. Solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11) is well known for its role in maintaining the intracellular glutathione level and preventing oxidative-stress-induced cell death. However, the association between SLC7A11 expression and prognosis as well as the correlation between tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) and immunotherapy of UCEC has rarely been reported. This study aims to evaluate the prognostic significance and immune cell infiltration level of SLC7A11 in UCEC. Methods: Bioinformatics analysis tools and databases, including R software, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), GEPIA2, Sangerbox, Kaplan–Meier (K-M) Plotter, TISIDB, and TIMER2, were utilized to measure the expression level and clarify the clinical significance of SLC7A11 in UCEC. Results: SLC7A11 expression was dramatically up-regulated in UCEC patients and associated with prognosis. DNA methylation levels in the SLC7A11-promoter region were significantly higher in normal participants than in patients with UCEC. We also showed that SLC7A11 overexpression was associated with TIICs, immune checkpoint blockers (ICBs), and immunotherapy response in UCEC. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) results obtained with the cohort from TCGA showed that Z-VAD-FMK (Caspase inhibitor), S-Triphenylmethyl-L-cysteine (S-Trityl-L-cysteine), and TAE684 (ALK inhibitor) had higher IC50 values in low-expression patient (p < 0.05). Conclusion: SLC7A11 overexpression is associated with favorable prognosis of patients with UCEC and is associated with TIICs and the responses to immunotherapy.