Abstract
Costimulatory molecules have been found to play significant roles in anti-tumor immune responses, and are deemed to serve as promising targets for adjunctive cancer immunotherapies. However, the roles of costimulatory molecule-related genes (CMRGs) in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remain unclear. In this study, we described the CMRG alterations in the genetic and transcriptional fields in AML samples chosen from two datasets. We next evaluated their expression and identified two distinct costimulatory molecule subtypes, which showed that the alterations of CMRGs related to clinical features, immune cell infiltration, and prognosis of patients with AML. Then, a costimulatory molecule-based signature for predicting the overall survival of AML patients was constructed, and the predictive capability of the proposed signature was validated in AML patients. Moreover, the constructed costimulatory molecule risk model was significantly associated with chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity of AML patients. In addition, the identified genes in the proposed prognostic signature might play roles in pediatric AML. CMRGs were found to be potentially important in the AML through our comprehensive analysis. These findings may contribute to improving our understanding of CMRGs in patients with AML, as well as provide new opportunities to assess prognosis and develop more effective immunotherapies.