AllergoOncology biomarker expression data identifies differentially regulated pathways and subnetworks in allergic diseases and cancer

Epidemiological findings suggest the association between allergic diseases and cancers. However, these data are inconsistent in different cancer types. In this study, we aim to identify the association of allergic diseases with different cancers at the molecular and pathway levels. The allergic disease biomarker database DAABV2, cancer biomarker database BioXpress, and Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) biomarker database BCSCdb were selected. Based on the data availability in BioXpress and BCSCdb, five common tissue-specific origin cancers were selected. The common biomarkers between allergic disease and cancer with expression profile were identified and termed AllergoOncology biomarker (AOB). From the category of AOBs Upregulated in Allergy and Downregulated in Cancer [UADC], 18 pathways and four small subnetworks were identified to be shared across several cancers such as bladder, breast, head and neck, and lung. Twenty-four biomarkers were obtained from the four subnetworks, which were reported to be upregulated in allergic diseases and downregulated at the pan-cancer level across 13 cancers, e.g. STAT3, JUN, MAPK1, JAK2, SOCS2, SOCS3, TLR4, TLR5, TLR7, IL1R1, IL1RL1, IL2, IL6, IL33, TNF, IL4R, IL13. The expression-based survival analysis was performed for 24 AOBs using the UALCAN database. The survival analysis identified six AOBs with downregulated expression like JUN, TLR3, and TLR4, which were associated with higher survival rates for lung squamous cell carcinoma. In conclusion, a molecular and pathway-level association was observed between allergic diseases and several cancers.