Unveiling the unique role of TSPAN7 across tumors: a pan-cancer study incorporating retrospective clinical research and bioinformatic analysis

Abstract Background TSPAN7 is an important factor in tumor progression. However, the precise function of TSPAN7 and its role in pan-cancer are not clear. Methods Based on Xinhua cohort incorporating 370 patients with kidney neoplasm, we conducted differential expression analysis by immunohistochemistry between tumor and normal tissues, and explored correlations of TSPAN7 with patients’ survival. Subsequently, we conducted a pan-cancer study, and successively employed differential expression analysis, competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis, correlation analysis of TSPAN7 with clinical characteristics, tumor purity, tumor genomics, tumor immunity, and drug sensitivity. Last but not least, gene set enrichment analysis was applied to identify enriched pathways of TSPAN7. Results In Xinhua cohort, TSPAN7 expression was significantly up-regulated (P-value = 0.0019) in tumor tissues of kidney neoplasm patients. High TSPAN7 expression was associated with decreases in overall survival (OS) (P-value = 0.009) and progression-free survival (P-value = 0.009), and it was further revealed as an independent risk factor for OS (P-value = 0.0326, HR = 5.66, 95%CI = 1.155–27.8). In pan-cancer analysis, TSPAN7 expression was down-regulated in most tumors, and it was associated with patients’ survival, tumor purity, tumor genomics, tumor immunity, and drug sensitivity. The ceRNA network and PPI network of TSPAN7 were also constructed. Last but not least, the top five enriched pathways of TSPAN7 in various tumors were identified. Conclusion TSPAN7 served as a promising biomarker of various tumors, especially kidney neoplasms, and it was closely associated with tumor purity, tumor genomics, tumor immunology, and drug sensitivity in pan-cancer level.