Integrative analysis and experiments to explore GAS1 as a prognostic target for ovarian cancer based on angiogenesis-related genes.

BACKGROUND: Intratumoral angiogenesis is crucial for the proliferation and metastasis of ovarian cancer. This study aims to comprehensively analyze the impact of angiogenesis-related genes on clinical outcomes, the immune landscape, and immunotherapy response in ovarian cancer. RESULTS: Through integrated analysis of transcriptomic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus databases, we identified two novel angiogenesis subtypes that exhibited significant differences in clinicopathological features, prognostic outcomes, and tumor microenvironment characteristics. An angiogenesis-based risk score was developed, which effectively stratified patients into distinct risk groups. These groups demonstrated divergent clinical prognosis, immune cell infiltration patterns, expression levels of immune checkpoint genes, and sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents. Furthermore, growth arrest-specific 1 was validated as a hub prognostic gene, showing abnormal expression in ovarian cancer tissues. Functional experiments confirmed that upregulation of growth arrest-specific 1 significantly suppressed the proliferative and migratory capacities of ovarian cancer cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings underscore the integral relationship between angiogenesis and the immune microenvironment in ovarian cancer. The angiogenesis-based risk score provides a promising prognostic tool, and growth arrest-specific 1 is implicated as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for ovarian cancer patients.