A ceRNA-Based Multi-Omics Analysis Identifies a Prognostic Signature in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains clinically heterogeneous, and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) derived prognostic biomarkers require further characterization. This study integrated TCGA-LUAD RNA-seq, miRNA-seq, survival, mutation, and methylation data to generate a ceRNA network and develop a survival-associated signature. Differential expression analysis identified 4,686 mRNAs, 2,220 lncRNAs, and 264 miRNAs dysregulated between tumor and normal samples. The final ceRNA network contained 9 lncRNAs, 9 miRNAs, 117 mRNAs. Cox and LASSO analyses identified a two-RNA prognostic signature composed of ITGB1-DT and IGF2BP1. High-score patients showed shorter overall survival and the risk score remained independently associated with survival after adjustment for age, gender, and stage. External validation in CPTAC-LUAD supported the model mainly as a continuous prognostic score. The high-risk group showed immunosuppressive and hypoxia-related features, increased tumor mutation burden, higher TP53 mutation frequency, and reduced IGF2BP1 regulatory-region methylation associated with increased IGF2BP1 expression. These findings suggest that the ITGB1-DT and IGF2BP1 signature may serve as a prognostic biomarker for LUAD and provide insight into ceRNA-associated tumor features. Further experimental validation required.