AHSG, a Gene Promoting Tumour Proliferation, Migration and Invasion, is an Independent Prognostic Factor for Poor Overall Survival in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Objective: Recent studies have shown that the metabolic process-related gene AHSG is involved in multiple pathological processes of tumours. This study will explore the relationship between AHSG and lung adenocarcinoma.

Materials and methods: Expression analysis, survival analysis and co-expression analysis of AHSG were performed using a public database, and cytological and molecular biology assays were performed to explore the role of AHSG in lung adenocarcinoma.

Result: Compared with normal tissues, AHSG expression was significantly higher in cancer tissues in the TCGA-LUAD database, and pan-cancer analysis revealed abnormal AHSG expression in different kinds of tumours. Survival analysis revealed that compared with the low expression group, the patients in the high expression group had a significantly worse overall survival duration in the TCGA-LUAD database, and a subsequent study confirmed that AHSG expression could be an independent prognostic factor of overall survival in lung adenocarcinoma. AHSG-related genes are involved in multiple physiological and pathophysiological pathways. In subsequent cytological and molecular biology experiments, inhibition of AHSG expression suppressed proliferation, migration and invasion in lung adenocarcinoma cell lines, and the EMT process was blocked after knockdown of AHSG.

Conclusion: AHSG could be used as a prognostic factor for OS in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. It can promote the biological behaviour of lung adenocarcinoma and may become a potential target for treatment, which is worthy of further study.