| Abstract: | Cervical cancer (CESC) is one of the most common cancers and affects the female genital tract. Consistent HPVinfection status has been determined to be a vital cause of tumorigenesis. HPV infection may induce changes to theimmune system and limit the host’s immune response. Immunotherapy is therefore essential to improving the overallsurvival of both locally advanced and recurrent CESC patients. Using 304 relevant samples from TCGA, we assessedimmune cell function in CESC patients to better understand the status of both tumor micro-environment cells andimmune cells in CESC. Functional enrichment analysis, pathway enrichment analysis, and PPI network constructionwere performed to explore the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The analysis identified 425 DEGs, whichincluded 295 up-regulated genes and 130 down-regulated genes. We established that upregulation of CCL5 wascorrelated with significantly better survival, meaning that CCL5 expression could serve as a novel prognosticbiomarker for CESC patients. We further focused on CCL5 as a hub gene in CESC, as it had significant correlationswith increased numbers of several types of immune cells. Cell-type fractions of M1 macrophages were significantlyhigher in the high-immune-scores group, which was associated with better overall survival. Finally, we concluded thatCCL5 is a promising prognostic biomarker for CESC, as well as a novel chemotherapeutic target. |
