In silico analysis reveals a shared immune signature in CASP8-mutated carcinomas with varying correlations to prognosis

Sequencing studies across multiple cancers continue to reveal mutations and genes involved in the pathobiology of these cancers. Exome sequencing of oral cancers, a subset of Head and Neck Squamous cell Carcinomas (HNSCs) common among tobacco-chewing populations, revealed that ～34% of the affected patients harbor mutations in the CASP8 gene. Uterine Corpus Endometrial Carcinoma (UCEC) is another cancer where ～10% cases harbor CASP8 mutations. Caspase-8, the protease encoded by CASP8 gene, plays a dual role in programmed cell death, which in turn has an important role in tumor cell death and drug resistance. CASP8 is a protease required for the extrinsic pathway of apoptosis and is also a negative regulator of necroptosis. Using multiple tools such as differential gene expression, gene set enrichment, gene ontology, in silico immune cell estimates, and survival analyses to mine data in The Cancer Genome Atlas, we compared the molecular features and survival of these carcinomas with and without CASP8 mutations