Prognostic and immunological roles of RSPO1 in pan-cancer and its correlation with LUAD proliferation and metastasis.

Abstract

Aberrant RSPO1 expression is implicated in tumor progression across various cancers and correlates with anti-cancer immune cell characteristics. However, the specific role of R-spondin 1 (RSPO1) in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains unclear. In this study, we utilized data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to assess RSPO1 expression across 33 tumor types. Kaplan-Meier (K-M) analysis revealed the prognostic significance of RSPO1 in various cancers. Using statistical software R, we examined RSPO1's associations with immune cell infiltration, methylation, mutation, and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks. Exploration via the Tumor Immune Single Cell Hub (TISCH) database uncovered RSPO1's link to the tumor microenvironment (TME) and identified potential small molecule drug targets. We further investigated RSPO1's impact on LUAD cell proliferation, metastasis, and the Wnt pathway in vitro. Our findings highlight RSPO1's role in cancer progression and suggest its potential as both a prognostic marker and therapeutic target in LUAD, implicating the modulation of the Wnt pathway.