Comprehensive Characterization of Immune Landscape Based on Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Signature in OSCC: Implication for Prognosis and Immunotherapy.

ABSTRACT: Current anatomic TNM stage classification fails to capture the immune heterogeneity of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Increasing evidence indicates the strong association between epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and tumor immune response. In this study, we employed an EMT signature to classify OSCC patients into epithelial- (E-) and mesenchymal- (M-) phenotypes using TCGA and GSE41613 transcriptome data. The ESTIMATE and CIRBERSORT analyses implied that the EMT signature genes originated from the stroma of the bulk tissue. The M-subtype tumors were characterized as "immune-hot" with more immune cell infiltration than the E-subtype ones. The low infiltration of active immune cells, the high infiltration of inactive immune cells, and the high expressions of immune checkpoints de

SUBMITTER: Zhang SY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8281347 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature