To enhance diagnostic capabilities, machine learning techniques such as LASSO, random forest, and SVM-RFE were employed, identifying six hub genes (SLC16A7, GFM1, PDP1, KIF23, TRMT5, COX5A) with strong potential for distinguishing ESCC from normal samples.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a highly aggressive cancer with a low five-year survival rate below 20%, emphasizing the urgent need for effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

In 2022, there were approximately 511,054 new cases of esophageal cancer worldwide, resulting in 445,391 related deaths, further highlighting the critical demand for advancements in treatment.

The study also constructed a nomogram based on these hub genes, demonstrating high predictive accuracy for ESCC risk assessment, achieving an AUC value of 0.982 in the GLM model.

These findings underscore the importance of lactate metabolism in ESCC and highlight the potential of LRGs as biomarkers and targets for novel therapeutic strategies.

A recent study has focused on lactate metabolism in ESCC, identifying lactate-related genes (LRGs) as potential biomarkers for prognosis and treatment due to their significant impact on the tumor microenvironment and immune response.

Through bioinformatics analysis, researchers identified a total of 212 LRGs, revealing their association with cancer progression and immune profiles in ESCC patients.

Differential expression analysis of ESCC samples uncovered 1,377 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), leading to the identification of 13 lactate-related DEGs that could serve as potential biomarkers.

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis characterized the cellular composition of ESCC samples, highlighting distinct immune cell interactions and higher lactylation scores in ESCC cells compared to normal cells.

Immune infiltration analysis indicated significant differences in immune cell types between ESCC and normal samples, suggesting that lactate metabolism plays a crucial role in shaping the immune landscape of the tumor environment.