Diffuse
glioma is the deadliest form of
brain cancer, and the median survival of grade IV
glioma (
glioblastoma, GBM) is no more than 2 years even with maximal surgical resection followed by
radiotherapy and
chemotherapy, which are now the standard of care for GBM.
Glioma shares common characteristics with most malignant tumours, such as invasiveness, rapid progression, resistance to various
therapies and inevitable recurrence, while it also has its own unique features, such as high aggressiveness and
immunotherapy resistance, which can be, respectively, attributed to epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the immunosuppressive microenvironment. Here, we calculated the EMT score of
glioma using The
Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the Chinese
Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets and validated its prognostic value. Then, we investigated its role in the
glioma immune microenvironment, identified the enriched EMT-related immune genes and determined their specific biological functions in
glioma. Furthermore, clinical relevance analysis showed the translational value of these EMT-related immune genes. In short, our findings reveal a critical link between EMT and the
glioma immune microenvironment and offer important clues for further investigation of the underlying molecular mechanism.