A Four-Pseudogene Classifier Identified by Machine Learning Serves as a Novel Prognostic Marker for Survival of Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is a common malignancy with high mortality and poor prognosis due to lack of predictive markers. Increasing evidence has demonstrated that pseudogenes, a type of non-coding gene, play an important role in tumorigenesis. The aim of this study was to identify a prognostic pseudogene signature of osteosarcoma by machine learning. A sample of 94 osteosarcoma patients’ RNA-Seq data with clinical follow-up information was involved in the study. The survival-related pseudogenes were screened and related signature model was constructed by cox-regression analysis (univariate, lasso, and multivariate). The predictive value of the signature was further validated in different subgroups. The putative biological functions were determined by co-expression analysis. In total, 125 survival-related pseudogenes were identified and a four-pseudogene (RPL11-551L14.1, HR: 0.65 (95% CI: 0.44–0.95); RPL7AP28, HR: 0.32 (95% CI: 0.14–0.76); RP4-706A16.3, HR: 1.89 (95% CI: 1.35–2.65); RP11-326A19.5, HR: 0.52(95% CI: 0.37–0.74)) signature effectively distinguished the high- and low-risk patients, and predicted prognosis with high sensitivity and specificity (AUC: 0.878). Furthermore, the signature was applicable to patients of different genders, ages, and metastatic status. Co-expression analysis revealed the four pseudogenes are involved in regulating malignant phenotype, immune, and DNA/RNA editing. This four-pseudogene signature is not only a promising predictor of prognosis and survival, but also a potential marker for monitoring therapeutic schedule. Therefore, our findings may have potential clinical significance.