Introduction As the most common aggressive intraocular cancer in adults, uveal melanoma (UVM) threatens the survival and vision of many people. Glycolysis is a novel hallmark of cancer, but the role of glycolysis-related genes in UVM prognosis remains unknown. The purpose of the study was to establish a glycolysis-related gene signature (GRGS) to predict UVM prognosis. Methods Raw data were obtained from TCGA-UVM and GSE22138 datasets. The GRGS was established by univariate, LASSO and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Kaplan‒Meier survival and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves were used to evaluate the predictive ability of the GRGS. The relationships of the GRGS with infiltrating immune cell levels and mutations were analyzed with CIBERSORT and maftools. Results A novel GRGS (risk score = 0.690861*ISG20 +0.070991*MET -0.227520*SDC2 +0.690223*FBP1 +0.048008*CLN6-0.128520* SDC3) was developed for predicting UVM prognosis. The GRGS had robust predictive stability in UVM. Enrichment annotation suggested that the high-risk group had stronger adaptive immune responses and that the low-risk group had more innate immune cell infiltration. Moreover, BAP1 mutation was related to high risk, and SF3B1 mutation was related to low risk. Conclusions This study developed and validated a novel GRGS to predict UVM prognosis and immune infiltration. The signature revealed an association between glycolysis-related genes and the tumor microenvironment, providing new insights into the role of glycolysis in UVM.

The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel