# A Novel Prognostic Model for Gastric Cancer with EP_Dis-Based Co-Expression Network Analysis
## 4 Discussion
[29] constructed a three-FRG risk score to predict the survival rate of GC patients by P-WGCNA-Cox and the AUC was 0.611, which is lower than our P-WGCNA-Cox result. This is likely due to the additional dataset, GTEX, included in our training process. [PERSON] et al. [30] used P-WGCNA-LASSO-Cox to construct an 18-gene signature and it predicted that the 5-year survival rate was 0.726, while our EP-WGCNA-Cox result was 0.77. This indicates that EP-WGCNA can be mined for key genes and EP-WGCNA-Cox is reliable in predicting the survival rate of GC patients. Referring to the literature reports, among the eight P-FRGs screened based on EP-WGCNA, _ALB_ (Albumin) has a variety of important physiological functions, including maintaining blood colloid osmotic pressure between blood vessels and tissues, binding and participating in the transport of various small molecule substances, detoxification and reprocessing of metabolic products, inhibiting platelet aggregation and anticoagulation, etc., which are of great significance in the life process. Recent studies have shown that postoperative _ALB_ expression is an effective prognostic factor for elderly GC patients [31], and the ratio of C-reactive protein to _ALB_ can predict poor local prognosis for late-stage GC patients [32]. In addition, _ALB_ expression is also closely related to the occurrence and development of endometrial cancer [33], liver cancer [34] and osteosarcoma [35]. _BNIP3_ (BCL2 Interacting Protein 3) polymorphism is highly correlated with GC patients' disease susceptibility and clinicopathological characteristics [36], and histidine deficiency promotes GC mitochondrial autophagy by mediating _BNIP3_ promoter demethylation via IncRNA _PVT1_, thereby inhibiting GC cell proliferation [37]. _GLS2_ (Glutaminase 2) overexpression can significantly inhibit GC cell proliferation and migration and enhance GC cell apoptosis by upregulating cystathionine gamma-lyase 3 expression [38]. _MEG3_ (Maternally Expressed 3, non-coding protein) has been proven to be related to the primary tumor site of GC [39] and may be a susceptibility factor for the development of lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and GC [40]. Studies have shown that _PDK4_ (Pyrvuate Dehydrogenase Kinase 4) has been identified as a potential candidate diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for GC patients [41], _TF_ (Transferrin) has been shown to be highly expressed in GC and associated with poor prognosis of GC patients [42], and _TSC22D3_ (TSC22 Domain Family Member 3) is considered to be involved in the GC iron death-related key competitive endogenous RNA network [43]. _DPEPI_ (Dipptidae 1) has been shown to be an important regulator of single-pathway iron death and to cause kidney disease development by altering cellular iron transport [44], and it is also related to leukemia [45], hepatoblastoma [46], osteoarthritis [47] and colon cancer resistance [48]; however, _DPEPI_'s relationship with GC patient prognosis is less studied. Based on this chapter's research, _DPEPI_ may be a new research direction for GC. This study has several limitations that need to be acknowledged. Firstly, datasets are all from public databases, and as such the results should be validated through in vitro and vivo experiments. Secondly, we relied on the HPA database to explore the expression of P-FRGs. Furthermore, the immunohistochemical image of _MEG3_ is not available, and this should be validated via alternative experiments, such as RT-PCR and Western blot.