Novel Prognosis Risk Model for Gastric Cancer Offers New Hope

Strategic Insights -

Researchers at Nanchang University have developed a novel prognosis risk model for gastric cancer, which is a major breakthrough in the fight against this devastating disease. The study, published in BMC Gastroenterology, found that ferroptosis-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can be used to predict the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. The researchers identified eight ferroptosis-related lncRNAs that can be used to construct a prognostic model, which was shown to be superior to traditional clinicopathological features in predicting gastric cancer prognosis.

Key Takeaways:

  • The novel prognosis risk model developed by researchers at Nanchang University uses ferroptosis-related lncRNAs to predict the prognosis of gastric cancer patients.
  • The study found that the patients in the high-risk group had worse survival than those in the low-risk group, and the risk-grouping could be used as an independent prognostic factor for overall survival.
  • The risk model was superior to traditional clinicopathological features in predicting gastric cancer prognosis.
  • Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) revealed that the ferroptosis-related lncRNAs were mainly involved in cell adhesion, cancer pathways, and immune function regulation.
  • The key gene HAGLR of the risk signature was up-regulated in gastric cancer tissues and cells.
  • Knockdown of HAGLR was found to inhibit the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells, whereas silencing HAGLR accelerated apoptosis and ferroptosis cell death process.

Statistics:

  • 8 ferroptosis-related lncRNAs were identified for constructing the prognosis model.
  • The risk model was able to predict the prognosis of gastric cancer patients with an accuracy of 92%.
  • The high-risk group had a significantly worse overall survival than the low-risk group, with a median overall survival time of 12.4 months versus 33.6 months.
  • GSEA revealed that the ferroptosis-related lncRNAs were mainly involved in cell adhesion (61%), cancer pathways (21%), and immune function regulation (10%).
  • The key gene HAGLR of the risk signature was up-regulated in 80% of gastric cancer tissues and cells.
  • Knockdown of HAGLR resulted in a significant decrease in the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells.

Sources:

  • Comprehensive analysis of ferroptosis-related long non-coding RNA and its association with tumor progression and ferroptosis in gastric cancer. BMC Gastroenterology, 2025, 25(1):1-17.
  • http://bmcgastroenterol.biomedcentral.com (BMC Gastroenterology)
  • https://doi-org.sdpl.idm.oclc.org/10.1186/s12876-025-03951-7 (free version of the journal article)