Investigation of TMEM41A's function in breast cancer prognosis and its connection to immune cell infltration

• Fan Fan ^[2] ; Ruiwen Feng ^[2] ; Yuxin Zhang ^[1] ; Xiabin Li ^[3] ; Yan Tang ^[2]
  1. [1] Chongqing Medical University

     Chongqing Medical University

     China

     
  2. [2] School of Public Health, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou 646000, Sichuan, China
  3. [3] Department of Breast Surgery, the Afliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou 646000, Sichuan, China

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• Localización: Clinical & translational oncology, ISSN 1699-048X, Vol. 27, Nº. 4, 2025, págs. 1569-1585
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Background Globally, breast cancer is the most common type of malignant tumor. It has been demonstrated that TMEM41A is abnormally expressed in a number of cancers and is linked to a dismal prognosis. TMEM41A's involvement in breast cancer remains unknown, though.

    Methods Data from databases such as TCGA were used in this study. Expression diferences were compared using nonparametric tests. Cox regression analysis was employed, and analyses such as Nomogram were used to assess the signifcance of TMEM41A in predicting the prognosis of breast cancer. Lastly, it was looked into how immune cell infltration in breast cancer is related to TMEM41A expression levels.

    Results The results suggest that TMEM41A is overexpressed in breast cancer and correlates with poor prognosis (P=0.01), particularly in early-stage and ductal A breast cancer (P<0.01). Breast cancer patients' expression of TMEM41A was found to be an independent risk factor (HR=1.132, 95% CI 1.036–1.237) by multifactorial Cox regression analysis. The Nomogram prediction model's c-index was 0.736 (95% CI 0.684–0.787). The results of GSEA biofunctional enrichment analysis included the B cell receptor signaling pathway (P<0.05). Ultimately, there was a signifcant correlation (P<0.05) between TMEM41A expression in breast cancer and an infltration of twenty immune cells.

    Conclusions Breast cancer tissues overexpress TMEM41A, which is linked to immune cell infltration and prognosis (particularly in early stage and luminal A breast cancer). Overexpression of TMEM41A is anticipated to serve as a novel prognostic indicator and therapeutic target for breast cancer.