Background: TGM2 is a functionally diverse molecule that has multiple roles in mediating signal transduction and inflammation. However, the prognostic value of TGM2 and its correlation with tumor-infiltrating immune cells in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) remains elusive.
Methods: Datasets of LUSC were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to analyze the expression of TGM2 in LUSC. Then, Univariable survival and Multivariate Cox analysis was used to analyze the survival effect of several clinical characteristics. The influence of TGM2 on survival of LUSC patients was evaluated by Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA). The relationship between TGM2 and tumor-infiltrated immune cells was analyzed using the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER).
Results: TGM2 expression was remarkably lower in LUSC tissues than in the corresponding normal tissues. Low TGM2 expression was correlated with better OS in LUSC. Multivariate survival analysis demonstrated that high TGM2 expression was an independent risk factor for OS.TGM2 expression was significantly positively associated with infiltrating levels of macrophages, meanwhile was strongly correlated with various markers of immune cells, especially tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and T-regulatory cells (Tregs).
Conclusions: TGM2 is a prognostic biomarker and correlated with immune infiltrates in LUSC.