Retrospective analysis of research trends on global osteosarcoma metastasis-related genes based on bioinformatics and bibliometrics

Osteosarcoma is a common primary malignant bone tumor that is more prevalent among adolescents. This tumor exhibits high malignancy, early metastasis, and poor prognosis. Metastasis is a key factor affecting the survival rate and treatment efficacy of osteosarcoma patients. This study retrospectively investigated the research trends of osteosarcoma metastasis-related genes using bioinformatics and bibliometric analysis. We downloaded expression profile datasets related to osteosarcoma metastasis from the TARGET and GEO databases and screened for genes associated with osteosarcoma metastasis. Osteosarcoma patients were clustered and grouped into C1 and C2 subgroups, and survival differences between the subgroups were analyzed. Based on KEGG and GO pathway enrichment analyses, pathways regulated by differentially expressed genes in the C1 and C2 subgroups were identified. A Lasso regression model was used to construct a risk score and identify prognostic-related genes: MYC, CEBPA, and FCER1G. The prognosis, degree of immune cell infiltration, and drug sensitivity of patients in the high-risk group were compared. The relationships between the expression levels of MYC, CEBPA, and FCER1G and the prognosis of osteosarcoma patients were analyzed. Bibliometric analysis was used to examine research trends related to the MYC gene in osteosarcoma patients worldwide over the past 20 years. Finally, in vitro experiments were conducted to verify the effects of knocking down MYC on the biological behaviors of the human osteosarcoma cell lines MG63 and U2OS. In the clustering group, patients in subgroup C1 had a higher survival rate than those in subgroup C2. The differentially expressed genes between groups C1 and C2 were mainly enriched in the MAPK signaling pathway, immune response, and cell activation pathway. The survival time of low-risk patients in the risk scoring model was significantly longer than that of high-risk patients. Patients with osteosarcoma and high MYC expression had a poor prognosis, while those with high CEBPA and FCER1G expression had a better prognosis. The number of papers on MYC in osteosarcoma research has continued to increase. Over the past 20 years, apoptosis has been a key focus in MYC research on osteosarcoma, and metastasis has also become a research focus in some years. Knocking down the MYC gene can significantly reduce the growth and migration abilities of the human osteosarcoma cell lines MG63 and U2OS. This study indicates that the constructed osteosarcoma metastasis gene signature can serve as a biomarker for prognosis, immune cell infiltration, and drug sensitivity in osteosarcoma patients. MYC remains one of the crucial research topics in the field of osteosarcoma in the future.