Diagnostic significance and carcinogenic mechanism of pan-cancer gene POU5F1 in liver hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract Background The prognostic and clinicopathological significance of POU Class 5 Homeobox 1 (POU5F1) among various cancers is disputable heretofore. The diagnostic value and function mechanism of POU5F1 in liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) have not been studied thoroughly. Methods An integrative strategy of meta-analysis, bioinformatics and wet-lab approach was used to explore the diagnostic and prognostic significance of POU5F1 in various types of tumors, especially in LIHC. Meta-analysis was utilized to investigate the impact of POU5F1 on prognosis and clinicopathological parameters in various cancers. The expression level and diagnostic value of POU5F1 were assessed by qPCR in plasma collected from LIHC patients and controls. The correlation between POU5F1 and tumor infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) in LIHC was evaluated by CIBERSORT. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed based on TCGA. Hub genes and related pathways were identified on the basis of co-expression genes of POU5F1. Results Elevated POU5F1 was associated with poor OS, DFS, RFS and DSS in various cancers. POU5F1 was confirmed as an independent risk factor for LIHC and correlated with tumor occurrence, stage and invasion depth. The combination of POU5F1 and AFP in plasma was with high diagnostic validity (AUC = 0.902, P < 0.001). Specifically, the level of POU5F1 was correlated with infiltrating levels of B cells, T cells, dendritic cells and monocytes in LIHC. GSEA indicated POU5F1 participated in multiple cancer related pathways and cell proliferation pathways. Moreover, CBX3, CCHCR1 and NFYC were filtered as the central hub genes of POU5F1. Conclusions Our study identified POU5F1 as a pan-cancer gene could not only be a prognostic and diagnostic biomarker in various cancers, especially in LIHC, but functionally carcinogenic in LIHC.