A lactylation-driven prognostic model for lung adenocarcinoma: cellular lactylation heterogeneity and immune insights

Background: Lactylation, a recently identified post-translational modification, plays a critical role in tumor progression and immune regulation. However, its cellular heterogeneity and functional impact in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remain poorly understood. This study was designed as exploratory biological research to characterize lactylation-associated patterns at the single-cell level and to propose a potential lactylation-related prognostic model. Methods: expression and lactylation was examined. Immune characteristics were evaluated using multiple established computational approaches for estimating immune infiltration, dysfunction, and immunogenicity. Results: expression positively correlated with lactylation-associated indicators. Cell-cell communication analysis further highlighted signaling pathways involving the identified genes. Conclusions: This study presents a lactylation-based prognostic model for LUAD and uncovers potential immune-related mechanisms by which highly lactylated epithelial cells may contribute to immune evasion and tumor progression.