Cancer-Associated Fibroblast-Related Genes Are Associated with Prognosis of Patients with Ovarian Cancer

This study aimed to investigate the effects of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs)-related genes on prognosis and immunity in ovarian cancer. The gene expression profile data and clinical data of ovarian cancer were obtained from TCGA and GEO databases. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between tumor and normal tissues were selected, and the infiltration of immune cells, stromal cells and CAFs in each sample was evaluated. WGCNA was used for CAFs signature genes identification. CAFs score was calculated, followed by comparison of prognosis, immune cells, pathway and drug susceptibility between CAFs score-high and -low groups. There were significant differences in immune and stromal score as well as CAFs ratio between two groups. A total of 6474 DEGs were identified. By WGCNA, six CAFs signature genes, including MMP1, DPYSL4, PDGFRA, OGN, FBXL7 and NUDT10, were identified. CAFs score was an independent prognostic factor. There was a significant correlation between the actual prognosis and the different CAFs score groups. The proportion of five immune cells was significantly different between two CAFs score groups. Nine signaling pathways, such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition and angiogenesis, were different between two groups. Five chemotherapeutic drugs, such as paclitaxel and gefitinib, were found to be significantly different in IC50 levels between two groups. The six CAFs signature genes, including MMP1, DPYSL4, PDGFRA, OGN, FBXL7 and NUDT10, may serve as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets of ovarian cancer.