Comprehensive single-cell and bulk RNA-seq analyses reveal a novel CD8+ T cell-associated prognostic signature in ovarian cancer.

ABSTRACT

CD8+ T cells play pivotal roles in combating intracellular pathogens and eliminating malignant cells in cancer. However, the prognostic role of CD8+ T cells in ovarian carcinoma is insufficiently exploited. Herein, through univariate Cox regression along with least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analyses, we developed a novel prognostic model based on CD8+ T cell markers identified by single-cell sequencing (scRNA-seq) analyses. Patient grouping by the median risk score reveals an excellent prognostic efficacy of this model in both training and validation cohorts. Of note, patients classified as low-risk group exhibit a dramatically improved prognosis. In addition, higher enrichment level of immune-related pathways and increased infiltration level of multiple immune cells are found in patients with lower risk score. Importantly, low-risk patients also exhibited higher response rate to immunotherapies. Summarily, this developed CD8+ T cell-associated prognostic model serves as an excellent predictor for clinical outcomes and aids in guiding therapeutic strategy choices for ovarian cancer patients.