Characteristics of prognostic non-apoptotic programmed cell death LncRNAs correlates with immune status and therapeutic responses to pancreatic cancer

In this study, we established a classification system based on the expression profile of non-apoptotic programmed cell death (PCD)-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) to investigate the features of prognostic non-apoptotic PCD-related lncRNAs in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD). Additionally, the relationship between this model and the characteristics of PAAD (clinical features, tumor stemness, epigenetic alterations, immune status, and drug sensitivity) was identified. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) was employed to retrieve clinical information and transcriptome sequencing data for patients with PAAD. Non-apoptotic PCD-related genes were obtained from the related databases and published literature. In our study, 272 differentially expressed lncRNAs related to non-apoptotic PCD were screened, and 91 differentially expressed lncRNAs related to non-apoptotic PCD were significantly correlated with overall survival (OS). A predictive model containing five non-apoptotic PCD-related lncRNAs was constructed using Cox regression analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis. Patients were classified as high-risk and low-risk based on the predictive model. Our prognostic model was strongly associated with tumor stemness, epigenetic alterations, immune status, and response to chemotherapeutic drugs. A signature of lncRNAs involved in non-apoptotic PCD can help predict the prognosis of patients with PAAD and discover promising treatments for PAAD.