A potential panel of eight‑mRNAs signature for predicting biochemical recurrence‑free survival and disease‑free survival in prostate cancer

Abstract Purposes In present study, we aimed to identify mRNA expression signature which can predict biochemical recurrence-free (BCR-free) survival of prostate cancer (PCa) patients. Methods A total of 415 patients with pathologic confirmed PRAD in TCGA dataset were recruited and included. With the specific risk score formula, patients were further classified into high-risk and low-risk group. Kaplan–Meier survival analyses and Cox regression analyses were performed to determine the association between mRNA signature and survival outcomes. KEGG was carried out to identify the potentially associated biological processes and signaling pathway. CCK8 assay and transwell assay were used to explore the changes of cell proliferation and invasion ability after gene knockdown. Results Overall, 83 differentially expressed mRNAs were found with more than logFC(4) and p value <0.05 after making a pair between biochemical recurrence. Among which, eight mRNAs were identified to be significantly associated with BCR-free survival. Then, using a risk score based on the signature of these mRNAs, we divided the patients into low-risk and high-risk groups with significantly different BCR-free survival and disease-free survival. KEGG suggested that this signature was involved in Oxytocin signaling pathway. Cell experiments also proved that the genes in the signature can affect the proliferation and invasion functions of Pca cells. Conclusions In present study, a novel eight-mRNAs signature that is useful in survival prediction in PCa patients was developed. The clinical implications and the mechanism of these eight-mRNAs deserve further investigation in future studies.