Integrated multi-omics data analysis identifies a novel genetics-risk gene of IRF4 associated with prognosis of oral cavity cancer

BackgroundOral cavity cancer (OCC) is one of the most common carcinoma diseases. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have reported numerous genetic variants associated with OCC susceptibility. However, the regulatory mechanisms of these genetic variants underlying OCC remain largely unclear. ObjectiveThis study aimed to identify OCC-related genetics risk genes contributing to the prognosis of OCC. MethodsBy combining GWAS summary statistics (N = 4,151) with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) across 49 different tissues from the GTEx database, we performed an integrative genomics analysis to uncover novel risk genes associated with OCC. By leveraging various computational methods based on multi-omics data, risk genes were prioritized as promising candidate genes for drug repurposing in OCC. ResultsUsing two independent computational algorithms, we found that 14 risk genes whose genetics-modulated expressions showed a notable association with OCC. Among them, nine genes were newly identified, such as IRF4 (P = 2.5x10-9 and P = 1.06x10-4), TNS3 (P = 1.44x10-6 and P = 4.45x10-3), ZFP90 (P = 2.37x10-6 and P = 2.93x10-4), and DRD2 (P = 2.0x10-5 and P = 6.12x10-3). These 14 genes were significantly overrepresented in several cancer-related terms, and 10 of 14 genes were enriched in 10 potential druggable gene categories. Based on differential gene expression analysis, the majority of these genes (71.43%) showed remarkable differential expressions between OCC patients and paracancerous controls. Integration of multi-omics-based evidence from genetics, eQTL, and gene expression, we identified that the novel risk gene of IRF4 exhibited the highest ranked risk score for OCC. Survival analysis showed that dysregulation of IRF4 expression was significantly associated with cancer patients outcomes (P = 8.1x10-5). ConclusionsIn summary, we prioritized 14 OCC-associated genes with nine novel risk genes, especially the IRF4 gene, which provides a drug repurposing resource to develop therapeutic drugs for oral cancer.