A prognostic signature based on cuprotosis-related long non-coding RNAs predicts the prognosis and sensitivity to chemotherapy in patients with colorectal cancer.

Cuprotosis, a newly proposed mechanism of cell death, can trigger acute oxidative stress that leads to cell death by mediating protein lipidation in the tricarboxylic acid cycle. However, cuprotosis-related long non-coding RNAs (CRLNCs) and their relationship with prognosis and the immunological landscape of colorectal cancer (CRC) are unclear. We have developed a lncRNA signature to predict survival time, immune infiltration, and sensitivity to chemotherapy. CRLNCs were screened using the Cor function of the R software and the differentially expressed lncRNAs were collected with the limma package. Differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) associated with prognosis were selected using univariate regression analysis. A prognostic signature was developed using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multivariate regression analysis. Patients with CRC were divided into two groups based on the risk score. The low-risk group had a more favorable prognosis, higher expression of immune checkpoints, and a higher level of immune cell infiltration compared with the high-risk group. Furthermore, there was a close association between the risk score and the clinical stage, tumor mutational burden, cancer stem cell index, and microsatellite instability. We also assessed chemotherapy response in the two risk groups. Our study analyzed the role of CRLNCs in CRC and provided novel targets and strategies for CRC chemotherapy and immunotherapy.