Comprehensive RNA-seq analysis of colorectal cancer in a Korean cohort

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, and understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying CRC development and progression is critical for developing effective treatments. We performed RNA-Seq analysis of CRC and adjacent normal tissue samples from 214 Korean participants (comprising a total of 381 including 169 normal and 212 tumor samples) to investigate differential gene expression between the two groups. We identified a total of 19,575 expressed genes in CRC tissue and normal tissue, with 3,830 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified between the two groups. Functional annotation analysis revealed that upregulated DEGs were significantly enriched in pathways related to cell cycle, DNA replication, and IL-17, while downregulated DEGs were enriched in metabolic pathways. We also analyzed relationships between the clinical information and subtypes using Consensus Molecular Subtype (CMS). Our findings provide valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying Korean CRC patients and suggest potential targets for developing new treatments for this deadly disease. The raw data and processed results of this study have been deposited in a public repository to enable further analysis and exploration.结直肠癌（Colorectal cancer, CRC）是全球范围内癌症相关死亡的首要诱因，解析其发生与进展的分子机制对开发高效治疗方案至关重要。本研究对214名韩国受试者的结直肠癌组织及癌旁正常组织样本开展RNA测序（RNA-Seq）分析，总样本量共计381例，其中正常组织样本169例、肿瘤组织样本212例，以探究两组间的差异基因表达情况。本研究在结直肠癌与正常组织中共鉴定出19575个表达基因，两组间共筛选得到3830个差异表达基因（differentially expressed genes, DEGs）。功能注释分析结果显示，上调的差异表达基因显著富集于细胞周期、DNA复制及IL-17相关通路，而下调的差异表达基因则富集于代谢通路。本研究同时利用共识分子亚型（Consensus Molecular Subtype, CMS）分析了临床信息与肿瘤亚型之间的关联。本研究结果为解析韩国结直肠癌患者的分子机制提供了宝贵见解，并为该致命疾病的新型治疗靶点开发指明了潜在方向。本研究的原始数据与处理后结果已提交至公共数据库，以供后续分析与探索使用。