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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Breast Cancer
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1488137
This article is part of the Research Topic Advances in Tumor Microenvironment, Immunology and Immunotherapy of Breast Cancer View all 6 articles

Unveiling the Role of TGF-β Signaling Pathway in Breast Cancer Prognosis and Immunotherapy

Provisionally accepted
Wenbin Huang Wenbin Huang *Yifan Zheng Yifan Zheng Li Li Li Li Wenqian Cai Wenqian Cai Lin Li Lin Li Rongxin Zhang Rongxin Zhang Yulun Cao Yulun Cao
  • The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The TGF-β signaling pathway (TSP) is intricately linked with tumor progression. This study delves into the TSP's influence on breast cancer, examining the correlation between associated genes and clinical outcomes, particularly within the tumor microenvironment and immunotherapeutic response. Utilizing transcriptomic and single-cell sequencing data from the TCGA and GEO databases, we identified genes integral to TSP via Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA). Subsequently, we developed a novel TGF-β signaling pathway-related signature (TSPRS) by employing a comprehensive comparison across 101 machine-learning algorithms, enabling patient stratification into distinct risk groups. Such categorization facilitates the evaluation of immune activity and therapeutic responsiveness. The TSPRS demonstrated superior prognostic precision for breast cancer, which was further enhanced by the integration of predictive nomograms. Patients classified as low-risk exhibited improved prognoses and immunotherapeutic outcomes, evidenced by elevated Immune phenotype scores (IPS) and enhanced immune cell infiltration. Moreover, the targeted inhibition of ZMAT3 markedly attenuated the proliferation and invasiveness of breast cancer cells. In summary, our TSPRS offers a significant prognostic advantage in breast cancer, shedding light on the efficacy of immunotherapeutic interventions and underscoring the therapeutic potential of ZMAT3 inhibition.

    Keywords: breast cancer, TGF-β, Prognostic signature, Tumor Microenvironment, Immunotherapy

    Received: 29 Aug 2024; Accepted: 04 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Huang, Zheng, Li, Cai, Li, Zhang and Cao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wenbin Huang, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.