Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common pathological subtype of renal cell carcinoma, and immune-related genes (IRGs) are key contributors to its development. In this study, the gene expression profiles and clinical data of ccRCC patients were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and the cBioPortal database, respectively. IRGs were obtained from the ImmPort database. We analyzed the expression of IRGs in ccRCC, and discovered 681 that were differentially expressed between ccRCC and normal kidney tissues. Univariate Cox regression analysis was used to identify prognostic differentially expressed IRGs (PDEIRGs). Using Lasso regression and multivariate Cox regression analyses, we detected seven optimal PDEIRGs (PLAU, ISG15, IRF9, ARG2, RNASE2, SEMA3G and UCN) and used them to construct a risk model to predict the prognosis of ccRCC patients. This model accurately stratified patients with different survival outcomes and precisely identified patients with different mutation burdens. Our findings suggest the seven PDEIRGs identified in this study are valuable prognostic predictors in ccRCC patients. These genes could be used to investigate the developmental mechanisms of ccRCC and to design individualized treatments for ccRCC patients.
Keywords: TCGA database; ccRCC; immune; immune-related genes; prognosis.