TGFβ2 is a prognostic-related biomarker and correlated with immune infiltrates in gastric cancer

TGF beta 2 is an essential regulator of immune cell functionality, but the mechanisms whereby it drives immune infiltration in gastric cancer remain uncertain. The Oncomine and Tumor Immunoassay Resource (TIMER) databases were used for assessing the expression of TGF beta 2, after which TIMER was used to explore the relationship between TGF beta 2 and tumour immune infiltration. Finally, we assessed how TGF beta 2 expression correlated with the expression of a set of marker genes associated with immune infiltration using TIMER and GEPIA. We determined TGF beta 2 expression to be significantly correlated with outcome in multiple types of cancer in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), with the effect being particularly pronounced in gastric cancer. Furthermore, elevated TGF beta 2 expression was found to be significantly correlated with gastric cancer N staging, and with the expression of a variety of immune markers associated with particular immune cell subsets. These results indicate that TGF Beta 2 is associated with patient outcome and tumour immune cell infiltration in multiple cancer types. This suggests that TGF beta 2 is a key factor which governs immune cell recruitment to gastric cancer tumours, potentially playing a vital role in governing immune cell infiltration and thus representing a valuable prognostic biomarker in gastric cancer patients.