To investigate the prognostic value of STMN1 and its predictive capacity for chemotherapy and immunotherapy responses among patients with biliary tract cancer (BTC).
Approach:
Cohorts: Six independent cohorts encompassing tissue microarray specimens and transcriptional profiling data from BTC patients were analyzed.
STMN1 Measurement: STMN1 protein expression was quantified via immunohistochemistry (IHC) on tissue microarrays.
Key Findings:
STMN1 expression was significantly correlated with inferior overall survival (OS).
Multivariate regression identified STMN1 as an independent adverse prognostic biomarker for OS.
Elevated STMN1 expression was linked to immune response activation and T-cell infiltration.
Patients with low STMN1 expression derived prominent survival benefits from gemcitabine-based adjuvant chemotherapy.
High STMN1 expression predicted superior therapeutic responses to immune checkpoint blockade in BTC.
Interpretation:
Limitations:
The study is retrospective and may be subject to selection bias.
The sample size in some cohorts may limit the generalizability of findings.
