The clinical significance of integrin subunit alpha V in cancers: from small cell lung carcinoma to pan-cancer

Background Little is known about the relationship between integrin subunit alpha V (ITGAV) and cancers, including small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Methods Using large sample size from multiple sources, the clinical roles of ITGAV expression in SCLC were explored using differential expression analysis, receiver operating characteristic curves, Kaplan–Meier curves, etc. Results Decreased mRNA (SMD = − 1.05) and increased protein levels of ITGAV were detected in SCLC (n = 865). Transcription factors—ZEB2, IK2F1, and EGR2—may regulate ITGAV expression in SCLC, as they had ChIP-Seq (chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing) peaks upstream of the transcription start site of ITGAV. ITGAV expression made it feasible to distinguish SCLC from non-SCLC (AUC = 0.88, sensitivity = 0.78, specificity = 0.84), and represented a risk role in the prognosis of SCLC (p