In Silico Insights Reveal Fibronectin 1 as a Theranostic Marker in Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is a complex and highly variable disease, ranking among the top five cancers diagnosed globally, and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Emerging from stomach lining cells amid chronic inflammation, it often advances to preneoplastic stages. Late-stage diagnoses and treatment challenges highlight the critical need for early detection and innovative biomarkers, motivating this study's focus on identifying theranostic markers through gene ontology analysis. By exploring deregulated biological processes, this study aims to uncover insights into cancer progression and associated markers, potentially identifying novel theranostic candidates in GC. Using public data from The Human Protein Atlas, this study pinpointed 299 prognostic genes, delineating 171 with unfavorable prognosis and 128 with favorable prognosis. Functional enrichment and protein-protein interaction analyses, supported by RNAseq results and conducted via Metascape and Cytoscape, highlighted five genes (<i>vWF</i>, <i>FN1</i>, <i>THBS1</i>, <i>PCDH7</i>, and <i>F5</i>) with promising theranostic potential. Notably, <i>FN1</i> and <i>THBS1</i> exhibited significant promise, with <i>FN1</i> showing a 370% expression increase in cancerous tissue, and it is possible that <i>FN1</i> can also indicate the stratification status in GC. While further validation is essential, these findings provide new insights into molecular alterations in GC and potential avenues for clinical application of theranostic markers.