A cuproptosis-related gene cluster in prediction of ovarian cancer prognosis and chemotherapeutic response

Background: Ovarian cancer (OC) is a common gynecological malignancy correlated with a poor prognosis. Cuproptosis is a newly discovered form of cell death and has a close relationship with cancers, but the relationship between OC and cuproptosis remains unclear. Results In this study, we explored cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) in public databases and found most CRGs are closely related to survival, and the potential roles of FDX1, LIAS and SLC31A1 in proliferation and migration were discovered in OC cell line. Afterwards, all 791 OC patients were divided into 2 clusters and the pathway enrichment and survival time showed obvious difference. 70 differentially expressed genes between 2 clusters were utilized to construct a gene signature. Significant difference was found in survival time and tumor-infiltrating immune cells among different risk groups. Finally, sensitivity of 12 commonly-used chemotherapeutic drugs was predicted closely correlating with risk score, which may provide a new strategy for clinical practice. Conclusion In conclusion, our study suggests that cuproptosis may play an important role in the progression of OC. We combinedly analyze cuproptosis-related differentially-associated genes in TCGA and GEO database and construct a risk model, which may provide new understandings to the treatment of OC.