Fatty acid metabolism-related risk signature revealing the immune landscape of neuroblastoma and predicting overall survival in pediatric neuroblastoma patients

Abstract Background Tumor metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark in cancer cells, wherein fatty acid metabolism assumes a pivotal role in energy supply and the provision of diverse biosynthetic precursors. However, there is a lack of systematic analysis regarding the impact of fatty acid metabolism o...

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Main Authors: Shizun Wang, Dan Zhang, Ming Ge, Nijia Zhang, Wei Yang, Yuqin Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2025-05-01
Series:Discover Oncology
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s12672-025-02479-2
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author Shizun Wang
Dan Zhang
Ming Ge
Nijia Zhang
Wei Yang
Yuqin Liu
author_facet Shizun Wang
Dan Zhang
Ming Ge
Nijia Zhang
Wei Yang
Yuqin Liu
author_sort Shizun Wang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Tumor metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark in cancer cells, wherein fatty acid metabolism assumes a pivotal role in energy supply and the provision of diverse biosynthetic precursors. However, there is a lack of systematic analysis regarding the impact of fatty acid metabolism on prognosis in neuroblastoma (NB) patients and its influence on the immune microenvironment. Methods We acquired RNA expression profiles and corresponding clinical-pathological information for NB patients from the Gene Expression Omnibus, ArrayExpress, and TARGET databases. The GSE49710 cohort was utilized as a training set, whereas E-MTAB-8248 and the TARGET cohorts served as testing sets. Consensus clustering was employed to identify molecular subtypes based on fatty acid metabolism. Independent prognostic genes were pinpointed using LASSO-Cox analysis, which facilitated the development of a novel risk signature that was subsequently validated using the testing sets. We then proceeded to analyze the predictive power of the risk signature for prognosis, its correlation with clinical-pathological features, the immune landscape, and drug sensitivity. Results In the consensus clustering analysis, patients in the training set were segregated into two clusters. Cluster 2 exhibiting significantly poorer overall survival (OS) compared to cluster 1. Moreover, cluster 2 was markedly associated with clinical-pathological features indicative of poor prognosis. Following this, univariate Cox regression analysis revealed 207 fatty acid metabolism genes (FMGs) correlated with patient OS. A risk signature based on 35 FMGs was constructed using LASSO-Cox regression analysis, demonstrating significant predictive accuracy and discrimination in both the training and testing sets. The risk signature emerged as an independent prognostic factor and was integrated with multiple clinical-pathological features to develop a nomogram. In the immune landscape analysis, the high-risk group displayed a compromised antigen presentation mechanism, reduced infiltration levels of various immune cells, and escaping of CD8 + T cells and NK cells. Additionally, different risk groups could exhibit different responsiveness to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Lastly, potential chemotherapeutic agents for each risk group were predicted. Conclusion The novel risk signature, derived from FMGs, demonstrated promising efficacy in predicting the prognosis of NB patients, elucidating their immune landscape, and guiding therapeutic strategies.
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spelling doaj-art-ca40aaedd7584be89d97f648fe57f9d02025-08-20T02:25:16ZengSpringerDiscover Oncology2730-60112025-05-0116111810.1007/s12672-025-02479-2Fatty acid metabolism-related risk signature revealing the immune landscape of neuroblastoma and predicting overall survival in pediatric neuroblastoma patientsShizun Wang0Dan Zhang1Ming Ge2Nijia Zhang3Wei Yang4Yuqin Liu5Department of Pathology, Cell Resource Center, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) and School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC)Beijing Cygenta BioTechnology Co., LtdDepartment of Neurosurgery, National Center for Children’s Health, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical UniversityDepartment of Neurosurgery, National Center for Children’s Health, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical UniversityDepartment of Neurosurgery, National Center for Children’s Health, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical UniversityDepartment of Pathology, Cell Resource Center, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) and School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC)Abstract Background Tumor metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark in cancer cells, wherein fatty acid metabolism assumes a pivotal role in energy supply and the provision of diverse biosynthetic precursors. However, there is a lack of systematic analysis regarding the impact of fatty acid metabolism on prognosis in neuroblastoma (NB) patients and its influence on the immune microenvironment. Methods We acquired RNA expression profiles and corresponding clinical-pathological information for NB patients from the Gene Expression Omnibus, ArrayExpress, and TARGET databases. The GSE49710 cohort was utilized as a training set, whereas E-MTAB-8248 and the TARGET cohorts served as testing sets. Consensus clustering was employed to identify molecular subtypes based on fatty acid metabolism. Independent prognostic genes were pinpointed using LASSO-Cox analysis, which facilitated the development of a novel risk signature that was subsequently validated using the testing sets. We then proceeded to analyze the predictive power of the risk signature for prognosis, its correlation with clinical-pathological features, the immune landscape, and drug sensitivity. Results In the consensus clustering analysis, patients in the training set were segregated into two clusters. Cluster 2 exhibiting significantly poorer overall survival (OS) compared to cluster 1. Moreover, cluster 2 was markedly associated with clinical-pathological features indicative of poor prognosis. Following this, univariate Cox regression analysis revealed 207 fatty acid metabolism genes (FMGs) correlated with patient OS. A risk signature based on 35 FMGs was constructed using LASSO-Cox regression analysis, demonstrating significant predictive accuracy and discrimination in both the training and testing sets. The risk signature emerged as an independent prognostic factor and was integrated with multiple clinical-pathological features to develop a nomogram. In the immune landscape analysis, the high-risk group displayed a compromised antigen presentation mechanism, reduced infiltration levels of various immune cells, and escaping of CD8 + T cells and NK cells. Additionally, different risk groups could exhibit different responsiveness to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Lastly, potential chemotherapeutic agents for each risk group were predicted. Conclusion The novel risk signature, derived from FMGs, demonstrated promising efficacy in predicting the prognosis of NB patients, elucidating their immune landscape, and guiding therapeutic strategies.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12672-025-02479-2NeuroblastomaFatty acid metabolism genes (FMGs)PrognosisDrug sensitivityImmune landscape
spellingShingle Shizun Wang
Dan Zhang
Ming Ge
Nijia Zhang
Wei Yang
Yuqin Liu
Fatty acid metabolism-related risk signature revealing the immune landscape of neuroblastoma and predicting overall survival in pediatric neuroblastoma patients
Discover Oncology
Neuroblastoma
Fatty acid metabolism genes (FMGs)
Prognosis
Drug sensitivity
Immune landscape
title Fatty acid metabolism-related risk signature revealing the immune landscape of neuroblastoma and predicting overall survival in pediatric neuroblastoma patients
title_full Fatty acid metabolism-related risk signature revealing the immune landscape of neuroblastoma and predicting overall survival in pediatric neuroblastoma patients
title_fullStr Fatty acid metabolism-related risk signature revealing the immune landscape of neuroblastoma and predicting overall survival in pediatric neuroblastoma patients
title_full_unstemmed Fatty acid metabolism-related risk signature revealing the immune landscape of neuroblastoma and predicting overall survival in pediatric neuroblastoma patients
title_short Fatty acid metabolism-related risk signature revealing the immune landscape of neuroblastoma and predicting overall survival in pediatric neuroblastoma patients
title_sort fatty acid metabolism related risk signature revealing the immune landscape of neuroblastoma and predicting overall survival in pediatric neuroblastoma patients
topic Neuroblastoma
Fatty acid metabolism genes (FMGs)
Prognosis
Drug sensitivity
Immune landscape
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s12672-025-02479-2
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