Prognostic implications of STK11 with different mutation status and its relationship with tumor-infiltrating immune cells in non-small cell lung cancer

Background Mutations in STK11 (STK11 Mut ) gene may present a negative impact on survival in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) patients, however, its relationship with immune related genes remains unclear. This study is to unveil whether overexpressed- and mutated-STK11 impact survival in NSCLC and to explore whether immune related genes (IRGs) are involved in STK11 mutations. Methods 188 NSCLC patients with intact formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue available for detecting STK11 protein expression were included in the analysis. After immunohistochemical detection of STK11 protein, patients were divided into high STK11 expression group (STK11 High ) and low STK11 expression group (STK11 Low ), and then Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and COX proportional hazards model were used to compare the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of the two groups of patients. In addition, the mutation data from the TCGA database was used to categorize the NSCLC population, namely STK11 Mutated (STK11 Mut ) and wild-type (STK11 Wt ) subgroups. The difference in OS between STK11 Mut and STK11 Wt was compared. Finally, bioinformatics analysis was used to compare the differences in IRGs expression between STK11 Mut and STK11 Wt populations. Results The median follow-up time was 51.0 months (range 3.0 - 120.0 months) for real-life cohort. At the end of follow-up, 64.36% (121/188) of patients experienced recurrence or metastasis. 64.89% (122/188) of patients ended up in cancer-related death. High expression of STK11 was a significant protective factor for NSCLC patients, both in terms of PFS [HR=0.42, 95% CI= (0.29-0.61), P <0.001] and OS [HR=0.36, 95% CI= (0.25, 0.53), P <0.001], which was consistent with the finding in TCGA cohorts [HR=0.76, 95%CI= (0.65, 0.88), P <0.001 HR=0.76, 95%CI= (0.65, 0.88), P <0.001]. In TCGA cohort, STK11 mutation was a significant risk factor for NSCLC in both lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) histology in terms of OS [HR=6.81, 95%CI= (2.16, 21.53), P <0.001; HR=1.50, 95%CI= (1.00, 2.26), P =0.051, respectively]. Furthermore, 7 IRGs, namely CALCA, BMP6, S100P, THPO, CGA, PCSK1 and MUC5AC, were found significantly overexpressed in STK11-mutated NSCLC in both LUSC and LUAD histology. Conclusions Low STK11 expression at protein level and presence of STK11 mutation were associated with poor prognosis in NSCLC, and mutated STK11 might probably alter the expression IRGs profiling.