Disease development is often driven by multiple factors. While angiogenesis-related genes (ARGs) have been implicated in cancer, their role in colon cancer remains understudied. Here, researchers aimed to explore potential ARG-based biomarkers to improve prognosis and treatment outcomes for patients with colon cancer. They conducted the first comprehensive analysis of the prognostic value of ARGs in colon cancer and identified three ARGs with prognostic value. A prognostic risk model was constructed based on these three ARGs and validated in an independent external colon cancer dataset. Results demonstrated that this prognostic signature was an independent risk factor for colon cancer and significantly correlated with clinical features of patients. Furthermore, this signature was closely associated with the immune microenvironment of colon cancer. Cell-based experiments demonstrated that high expression of TNF receptor superfamily member 1B (TNFRSF1B) significantly promoted apoptosis and inhibited proliferation in colon cancer cells. Therefore, TNFRSF1B may be a key regulator of colon cancer progression by regulating its intracellular functions.
The results of cell apoptosis showed that compared with the control group cells, the colon cancer apoptosis rate of the TNFRSF1B-overexpressing HTC116 colon cancer cells were significantly increased (Figure 1A-B).
Figure 1. Colon cancer apoptosis experiment. (Liu F, et al., 2025)
Cell cycle analysis results showed that compared with the control group cells, the TNFRSF1B-overexpressing cells showed significant inhibition of colon cancer cells in the G1 phase (Figure 2A-B).
Figure 2. Colon cancer cell cycle experiment. (Liu F, et al., 2025)