Single cell sequencing combined with transcriptome sequencing to build a prognostic model for colorectal cancer

Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a ubiquitous malignant tumor, ranking third in the global incidence and second in mortality. Despite advancements in screening techniques like colonoscopies, the lack of trustworthy biomarkers makes it difficult to diagnose CRC accurately. The objective of this study is to construct a prognostic risk model of CRC for accurate prediction of CRC results. Materials and Methods: We obtained GSE231559 data set from GEO database for single cell sequencing analysis, selected marker genes of endothelial cells with the highest contribution to CRC to construct a prognosis model, determined 16 model genes intimately associated with the survival of patients and risk scores that can predict the prognosis of CRC patients, and verified the performance of the model through external verification queues GSE17537 and GSE87211. Then, the molecular mechanism of the prognosis model was discussed from the aspects of immune infiltration, mutation map, immunotherapy and signal pathways involved in risk score. Results: The findings indicated that the immune system of high-risk patients had poor response ability to tumors, and the tumor microenvironment was more conducive to immune escape, leading to tumor progress. The immunotherapy effect of high-risk patients is worse, and as compared to low-risk patients, the OS is much lower. The enriched pathways are related to tumor growth, invasion, metastasis and the use of immune escape mechanism, which may provide powerful clues for the prognosis of high-risk patients or malignant tumors. Discussion: We identified a total of 16 model genes that are expected to serve as new CRC biomarkers. However, the biological functions and potential regulatory mechanisms of these genes should be confirmed through experiments in the future. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that the prognostic risk of CRC patients may be evaluated using this approach.