Abstract
BACKGROUND: We analyzed the n6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification patterns of immune cells infiltrating the tumor microenvironment of breast cancer (BC) to provide a new perspective for the early diagnosis and treatment of BC. METHODS: Based on 23 m6A regulatory factors, we identified m6A-related gene characteristics and m6A modification patterns in BC through unsupervised cluster analysis. To examine the differences in biological processes among various m6A modification modes, we performed genomic variation analysis. We then quantified the relative infiltration levels of different immune cell subpopulations in the tumor microenvironment of BC using the CIBERSORT algorithm and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis. Univariate Cox analysis was used to screen for m6A characteristic genes related to prognosis. Finally, we evaluated the m6A modification pattern of patients with a single BC by constructing the m6Ascore based on principal component analysis. RESULTS: We identified three different m6A modification patterns in 2128 BC samples. A higher abundance of the immune infiltration of the m6Acluster C was indicated by the results of CIBERSORT and the single-sample gene set enrichment analysis. Based on the m6A characteristic genes obtained through screening, the m6Ascore was determined. The BC patients were segregated into m6Ascore groups of low and high categories, which revealed significant survival benefits among patients with low m6Ascores. Additionally, the high-m6Ascore group had a higher mutation frequency and was associated with low PD-L1 expression, and the m6Ascore and tumor mutation burden showed a positive correlation. In addition, treatment effects were better in patients in the high-m6Ascore group. CONCLUSIONS: In case of a single patient with BC, the immune cell infiltration characteristics of the tumor microenvironment and the m6A methylation modification pattern could be evaluated using the m6Ascore. Our results provide a foundation for improving personalized immunotherapy of BC.