Characterization of Procollagen-lysine, 2-oxoglutarate 5-dioxygenases as Therapeutic Targets in a Pan-Cancer Study

Abstract Background Certain members of the Procollagen-lysine 2-oxyglutarate 5-dioxygenase (PLOD) family have been identified to play a role in tumor metastasis and progression. Materials & Methods The association between PLOD expression and overall survival (OS) rates was assessed utilizing the Kaplan-Meier survival curve. The correlation between gene expression and patient OS rate was determined utilizing a univariate or multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model or log-rank test to evaluate the difference in OS rates. The infiltration levels of stromal cells and immune cells in different tumors were analyzed utilizing the stromal-immune-ESTIMATE score. Results Our results showed that PLOD1, PLOD2, and PLOD3 were predominantly upregulated in cancer cells, and the expression of PLOD family members frequently correlated with the OS of cancer patients. All PLOD genes exhibited significant associations with immune infiltration subtypes, as well as different levels of stromal cell infiltration and tumor cell stemness. Furthermore, our research demonstrated that the PLOD gene might contribute to drug resistance in cancer cells. Conclusion Our study indicated that PLOD was primarily associated with more aggressive cancer characteristics and potentially contributed to tumor metastasis and tumorigenesis, leading to a poorer prognosis.