A Pan-Cancer Analysis of the Prognostic Value and Expression of Adenylate Cyclase 7 (ADCY7) in Human Tumors

Abstract

Background

The role of adenylate cyclase 7 (ADCY7) in cancer is still unclear. This study analyzed the interrelationship between the expression and immune function of ADCY7.

Methods

ADCY7 expression in multiple human cancers was analyzed using the databases of Genotype-Tissue Expression Project (GTEx), Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE), and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Correlations among ADCY7 gene expression, mismatch repair (MMR) gene expression, and DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) expression were assessed using Spearman correlation analysis. Univariate survival analysis and Kaplan–Meier (KM) curve were used to examine the effect of ADCY7 expression on prognosis. The Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) database was used to evaluate the relationship between ADCY7 gene expression and tumor immune invasion or immune checkpoint gene (ICG) expression.

Results

ADCY7 was abnormally expressed in multiple human cancers and was correlated with MMR genes and DNMT expression. Univariate survival analysis and KM curve showed that ADCY7 expression influences the overall survival (OS) of six types of cancer, disease-specific survival (DSS) of eight, and progression-free interval (PFI) of three. The high expression of ADCY7 in OS, DSS, and PFI was strongly associated with poor outcomes in patients with breast cancer and lung squamous cell carcinoma. ADCY7 expression was strongly associated with immune cell infiltration and ICG expression.

Conclusion

The results of this study indicated that ADCY7 may be a prognostic biomarker of tumorigenesis. The study may also provide a new perspective on the role of ADCY7 in human cancers.

Keywords:

• adenylate cyclase 7
• ADCY7
• prognosis
• immune infiltration
• pan-cancer analysis
• biomarker

Ethical Statement

The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. The authors confirm that the data is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank BulletEdits for English language editing. Yu Zeng and Nanhong Li are co-first authors for this study.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2021A1515011373).