Abstract
Uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) is a common malignancy that affects the female reproductive tract, and it is characterized by high rates of both morbidity and mortality. This study investigated epidermal growth factor-like domain multiple 6 (EGFL6) as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in patients with UCEC. RNA sequencing data and clinical information from patients with UCEC were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the correlations between EGFL6 expression and clinical features. Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis were performed to evaluate the EGFL6-related biological characteristics and signaling pathways. Immunohistochemistry was performed using UCEC tissue microarrays to assess EGFL6 expression. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the prognostic significance of EGFL6. Three nomograms were developed to predict overall survival, disease-specific survival, and progression-free interval probabilities at 1, 3, and 5 years after diagnosis. The expression of EGFL6 was validated using quantitative real-time PCR. Our findings demonstrate that EGFL6 is markedly overexpressed in UCEC and is associated with unfavorable clinical characteristics, including clinical stage and histological type. Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis highlighted its possible association with various key signaling pathways. Additionally, EGFL6 expression was associated with decreased immune cell infiltration, particularly regulatory T cells (Tregs) (r = - 0.219, p < 0.001) and CD8 + T cells (r = - 0.217, p < 0.001). Overall, EGFL6 expression was associated with a poor patient prognosis in patients. In conclusion, EGFL6 is a potential biomarker for UCEC, and could greatly improve of diagnostic and prognostic evaluation.