Author(s)

ZheYu Luan

Affiliation(s)

Prenatal Diagnosis Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150028, Heilongjiang, China.

Corresponding Author

ZheYu Luan

ABSTRACT

Objective: Intracellular cholesterol transporter 1 (NPC1) plays an indispensable role in the pathological process of malignant tumor. But the value of NPC1 as a biomarker in cervical cancer has not yet been revealed. Methods: 191 cervical cancer samples with NPC1 expression data and relevant clinical characteristic information were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). A series of bioinformatics analysis methods were performed to explore the biological role of NPC1 in cervical cancer. Results: Firstly, Cox regression and the Kaplan–Meier method showed that the increased expression of NPC1 was related to the decrease of overall survival time in cervical cancer. Secondly, GO enrichment analysis disclosed that some essential physiological processes were significantly correlated with NPC1 over-expression. Thirdly, KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that cancer-related signaling pathways were correlated with NPC1 expression. Fourthly, I found the close relationship between NPC1 expression and tumor immune micro-environment of cervical cancer. Finally, four small molecule drugs with potential inhibitory effect on NPC1 expression were screened by C-Map analysis. Conclusion: The high expression of NPC1 was an independent risk factor for the poor prognosis of cervical cancer. Moreover, NPC1 might be promising biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer.

KEYWORDS

Cervical cancer; NPC1; Poor prognosis; Biomarker; Bioinformatics analysis

CITE THIS PAPER

ZheYu Luan. Effect of NPC1 as an independent risk factor on the prognosis of cervical cancer. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research. 2025, 7(2): 5-13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/jpmr3038.

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