Identification and Verification of a Four-Gene Signature Predicting Overall Survival for Cervical Cancer

Abstract Background. Cervical cancer is one of the most common gynecological malignancies, ranking fourth for both incidence and mortality in women worldwide. Early screening and treatment have significantly reduced the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer. Many studies have shown that cervical cancer still presents a high risk of death from recurrence and metastasis. However, due to the complex molecular mechanisms of tumor progression, the predictive power of traditional clinical information is limited. In order to improve the survival rate of patients with cervical cancer, establishing an effective molecular model to assess prognosis of patients and guide clinical treatment are very important. Results. four-gene signature comprising PLOD2, SPON1, SPP1, RNASEH2A was established to predict overall survival of cervical cancer. The ROC curve indicated good performance of the four-gene signature at predicting overall survival in the TCGA dataset. The four-gene signature classify patients into high-risk and low-risk groups with distinct overall survival. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression revealed that the four-gene signature was an independent prognostic factor in cervical cancer.Conclusion. Our study developed a four-gene signature that reliably predict overall survival in cervical cancer. The findings may be beneficial to individualized clinical treatment and timely follow-up.