Identifying functional cuproptosis-related long non-coding RNAs in patients with bladder cancer.

Background: Bladder cancer is the most common malignancy of the urinary tract and one of the most common cancers in the world. Cuproptosis is a novel type of cell death associated with tumorigenesis. In this study, we assessed the correlation between cuproptosis-related genes and tumorigenesis. Moreover, we constructed a prognostic signature.

Methods: Pearson correlation analysis and univariate Cox regression were utilized to extract cuproptosis-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) predicting prognosis in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression was utilized to establish a cuproptosizs-related prognostic signature. A nomogram signature was generated to predict individual survival.

Results: We obtained 19 cuproptosis-related genes and 14 prognostic cuproptosis-related lncRNAs. We constructed a seven-prognostic risk signature. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves demonstrated good predictive power (1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of 0.711, 0.673, and 0.684, respectively). The high-risk group reported a worse prognosis than the low-risk group, and the risk signature was identified as an independent factor. The biological process of risk-related genes primarily involved tumorigenesis and migration. The high-risk group expressed high chemokines and T cell inhibition and low antigen-presenting cells.

Conclusions: Cuproptosis-related lncRNAs are central to tumorigenesis, providing a novel therapeutic target for patients with bladder cancer. We constructed an individualized predictive signature based on cuproptosis-related lncRNAs.