biostudies-literatureUnknown16(1)Deng X<h4>Background</h4>Esophageal cancer (EC) has a high incidence and is highly invasive. It is meaningful to employ invasion-related genes (IRGs) to predict patients' prognosis.<h4>Methods</h4>We launched a weighted correlation network analysis to screen for EC tumor differentially expressed IRGs (module genes) from the TCGA-ESCA dataset. By executing univariate-LASSO-multivariate Cox regression analyses, we stepwise selected module genes to obtain prognostic feature genes and create a model. We validated the model using the external GEO dataset GSE53624. We assessed the model's independent prognosis prediction ability. A nomogram was plotted and further validated later. GSEA was undertaken on high-risk groups (Group H). We compared immunity and tumor mutations in Group H and the low-risk grDiscover oncology1695https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12460863biostudies-literatureSelection of tumor invasion-related genes to build a prognostic model and predict immune response and potential drugs for esophageal cancer patients based on WGCNA.PMC12460863Liu YDeng XfalseSelection of tumor invasion-related genes to build a prognostic model and predict immune response and potential drugs for esophageal cancer patients based on WGCNA.<h4>Background</h4>Esophageal cancer (EC) has a high incidence and is highly invasive. It is meaningful to employ invasion-related genes (IRGs) to predict patients' prognosis.<h4>Methods</h4>We launched a weighted correlation network analysis to screen for EC tumor differentially expressed IRGs (module genes) from the TCGA-ESCA dataset. By executing univariate-LASSO-multivariate Cox regression analyses, we stepwise selected module genes to obtain prognostic feature genes and create a model. We validated the model using the external GEO dataset GSE53624. We assessed the model's independent prognosis prediction ability. A nomogram was plotted and further validated later. GSEA was undertaken on high-risk groups (Group H). We compared immunity and tumor mutations in Group H and the low-risk gr2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Sep2026-05-31T03:10:37.86Z2026-05-31T03:07:17.599ZS-EPMC124608634099107110.1007/s12672-025-03095-w