WGTDA: A Topological Perspective to Biomarker Discovery in Gene Expression Data

Abstract

Advancing the discovery of prognostic cancer biomarkers is crucial for comprehending disease mechanisms, refining treatment plans, and improving patient outcomes. This study introduces Weighted Gene Topological Data Analysis (WGTDA), an innovative framework utilizing topological principles to identify gene interactions and distinctive biomarker features. WGTDA undergoes evaluation against Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA), underscoring that topology-based biomarkers offer more reliable predictors of survival probability than WGCNA's hub genes. Furthermore, WGTDA identifies gene signatures that are significant to survival probability, irrespective of whether the expression is above or below the median. WGTDA provides a new perspective on biomarker discovery, uncovering intricate gene-to-gene relationships often overlooked by conventional correlation-based analyses, emphasizing the potential advantage of leveraging topological concepts to extract crucial information about gene-gene interactions.