Comparative gene co-expression network analysis betweenadenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma subtypes of esophagealcancer

Individuals with higher Body Mass Index (BMI), are prone to developing the less aggressive sub type of esophagus cancer (ESCA) known as esophagus adenocarcinoma (EAC) . On the contrary, innormal weights, the aggressive form of ESCA, esophagus squamous carcinoma (ESCC) is more plausi ble. This is in contrast with what is commonly reported in other cancers. In this study, we investi gated this paradox by conducting a co-expression analysis on two subtypes of ESCA; EAC, and ESCC.Method:Expression data in the form of FPKM, were retrieved from respectively ۲۳ and ۵۴ normal-weight and ۵۹ and۱۸ overweight/obese EAC and ESCC individuals from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) database. Co-expressionanalysis was separately conducted on EAC and ESCC subtypes using the WGCNA package in R ۴.۰.۰.Results:One module of ۳۴ co-expressed genes were identified with a correlation with BMI trait in EACpatients. Pathway enrichment of these co-expressed genes resulted in the identification of Protea some (PSMA۴; PSMB۱), cell cycle (CCNB۲; SMC۱A), and cellular senescence (CCNB۲; MYBL۲)associated genes beside several metabolic associated pathways. The presence of co-expression betweenthese genes, in correlation with higher BMI in EAC, which was not detected in the ESCC sub type, indicates their probable protective roles in EAC patients from the more severe form of ESCA.Conclusion:The presence of the identified co-expressed module in ESCA with the probable protective role, which wasnot detected in the ESCC subtype, is a partial indicator of di↵erent mechanisms of cancer development inthese two ESCA subtypes. Inspecting other co-expressed modules in EAC and ESCC will give us more cluesabout the difference in the overall mechanisms of cancer development in these two ESCA subtypes. This canbe resulted in applying distinct strategies for the clinical management of EAC and ESCC subtypes of ESCA

کلیدواژه ها:

Esophagus cancer ، Adenocarcinoma ، Squamous Cell Carcinoma ، Obesity paradox ، Co-expression network