Abstract
Background: Programmed cell death-related genes (PCDRGs) have been reported to play an important role in diagnosis, treatment and immunity regarding cancer, but their prognostic value and therapeutic potential in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients still need to be fully explored. Methods: Cox regression analysis and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) analysis were used to identify PCDRGs significantly associated with the prognosis of AML patients. Furthermore, a prognostic risk model for AML patients was constructed based on the selected PCDRGs, and their immune microenvironment and biological pathways were analyzed. Cell experiments ultimately confirmed the potential role of PCDRGs in AML. Results: The results yielded four PCDRGs that were used to develop a prognostic risk model, and the prognostic significance of this model was confirmed using an independent external AML patient cohort. This prognostic risk model provides an independent prognostic risk factor for AML patients. This prognostic feature is related to immune cell infiltration in AML patients. The inhibition of solute carrier family 39 member 14 (SLC39A14) expression enhanced apoptosis and inhibited cell cycle progression in AML cells. Conclusions: This study integrates bioinformatics analysis and cellular experiments to reveal potential gene therapy targets and prognostic gene markers in AML.