Prognostic Significance of Deubiquitinase OTUD7B in NK/T‐Cell Lymphoma

Aim OTUD7B (ovarian tumor domain‐containing 7B) is a deubiquitinase that has established prognostic significance in diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma and various solid tumors. In our present work, we aimed to explore its role in NK/T cell lymphoma (NKTCL). Methods Expression level of OTUD7B was assessed through immunohistochemistry in 53 NKTCL tissue samples. Statistical analyses were conducted to elucidate correlations between its expression and clinicopathological parameters of patients. Kaplan−Meier survival curves were constructed for survival analyses. Results OTUD7B was overexpressed in 41 (77.4%) NK/T tissue samples. Remarkably, patients with OTUD7B overexpression exhibit improved progression‐free survival (PFS) ( p = 0.021) and overall survival (OS) compared to those with low OTUD7B expression ( p = 0.007). Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that OTUD7B was an independent prognostic indicator for both PFS ( p = 0.037, HR = 0.401, 95% CI: 0.169−0.947) and OS ( p = 0.043, HR = 0.278, 95% CI: 0.081−0.961) in NTKCL patients. Conclusion OTUD7B could act as a prognostic indicator in NTKCL patients; further investigations remain imperative.