AUTHOR=Zhao Da , Wang Lizhuang , Chen Zheng , Zhang Lijun , Xu Lei 

TITLE=KRAS is a prognostic biomarker associated with diagnosis and treatment in multiple cancers

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2022.1024920

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2022.1024920

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>KRAS</italic> encodes K-Ras proteins, which take part in the MAPK pathway. The expression level of KRAS is high in tumor patients. Our study compared <italic>KRAS</italic> expression levels between 33 kinds of tumor tissues. Additionally, we studied the association of <italic>KRAS</italic> expression levels with diagnostic and prognostic values, clinicopathological features, and tumor immunity. We established 22 immune-infiltrating cell expression datasets to calculate immune and stromal scores to evaluate the tumor microenvironment. <italic>KRAS</italic> genes, immune check-point genes and interacting genes were selected to construct the PPI network. We selected 79 immune checkpoint genes and interacting related genes to calculate the correlation. Based on the 33 tumor expression datasets, we conducted GSEA (genome set enrichment analysis) to show the <italic>KRAS</italic> and other co-expressed genes associated with cancers. <italic>KRAS</italic> may be a reliable prognostic biomarker in the diagnosis of cancer patients and has the potential to be included in cancer-targeted drugs.</p>