Pan-cancer analysis of DDX31 as a promising predictor for clinical prognosis and immunotherapy response

Qianwen Rao; Jiajia Dong; Zhuoran Qi; Mengzhou Guo; Yuemei Yan; Xin Cao

doi:10.59717/j.xinn-med.2026.100211

The Innovation Medicine > 2026 Vol. 4 > No. 2 > 100211

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Pan-cancer analysis of DDX31 as a promising predictor for clinical prognosis and immunotherapy response

1.
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Shanghai Geriatric Medical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai 201104, China
2.
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
3.
Department of Control Science and Engineering, College of Electronics and Information Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200042, China
4.
Department of Medical Oncology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
5.
Department of Dermatology, The First Hospital of Jiaxing, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University, Jiaxing 314000, China
6.
Institute of Clinical Science, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
7.
These authors contributed equally

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Corresponding author: caox@fudan.edu.cn
Received Date: July 04, 2025

Accepted Date: April 07, 2026

Published Online: April 08, 2026

The Innovation Medicine 4(2), https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-med.2026.100211 | Cite this article

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PUBLIC SUMMARY
1. A systematic pan-cancer analysis of DEAD box polypeptide 31 (DDX31) was conducted by deep data mining.
  
  It was validated that DDX31 acted as an oncogene in Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
  
  This study provided a theoretical basis for the development of drugs targeting DDX31 in the future.

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

DEAD box polypeptide 31 (DDX31), a member of the Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp (DEAD) box RNA helicase family, has been implicated in the progression of various malignancies, including muscle-invasive bladder cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. To elucidate the multifaceted roles of DDX31 in oncogenesis, we conducted a comprehensive pan-cancer analysis to investigate its prognostic significance, functional implications, and immune-related characteristics through deep data mining. Our findings revealed that DDX31 was significantly upregulated in the majority of tumor types. Furthermore, DDX31 expression demonstrated strong prognostic value across multiple cancer types. Notably, DDX31 levels showed a significant positive correlation with immunoregulators and immune checkpoints in pan-cancer analysis. Conversely, DDX31 expression was inversely associated with immune cell infiltration in most malignancies. Importantly, integrated bulk-RNA and single-cell sequencing analyses revealed that DDX31 expression negatively correlated with immune regulatory systems while positively associating with oncogenic signaling pathways involved in tumor initiation and progression. Additionally, DDX31 demonstrated considerable predictive value for immunotherapy response. To validate these findings, we confirmed that DDX31 was upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and that CRISPR/Cas9-mediated DDX31 knockout significantly inhibited HCC cell proliferation. Collectively, our pan-cancer analysis suggested that DDX31 may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker and provided a theoretical foundation for the development of targeted therapies against DDX31 in cancer treatment.
- DDX31 /
- pan-cancer analysis /
- biomarker /
- prognosis /
- immunotherapy.

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Rao Q., Dong J., Qi Z., et al. (2026). Pan-cancer analysis of DDX31 as a promising predictor for clinical prognosis and immunotherapy response. The Innovation Medicine 4:100211. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-med.2026.100211

Rao Q., Dong J., Qi Z., et al. (2026). Pan-cancer analysis of DDX31 as a promising predictor for clinical prognosis and immunotherapy response. The Innovation Medicine 4:100211. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-med.2026.100211

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Pan-cancer analysis of DDX31 as a promising predictor for clinical prognosis and immunotherapy response

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