Fig. 2

Prognostic and expression analysis of candidate genes in prostate cancer. A Forest plot representing the hazard ratios and p values of candidate genes associated with overall survival in prostate cancer. The horizontal lines correspond to the 95% confidence intervals, and the squares indicate the hazard ratio (red for increased risk; blue for decreased risk). Genes with a hazard ratio greater than 1 suggest a higher risk, while those with a hazard ratio less than 1 suggest a protective effect. B-D Volcano plots illustrating differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in docetaxel-resistant prostate cancer cells: PCA3 (B), PCA7 (C), and PM154 (D). The x-axis shows the log2-fold change (log2FC), while the y-axis represents the negative log10 of the false discovery rate (FDR)-adjusted p value (-log10(FDR p value)). The colour gradient represents the significance level of the p value, with warmer colours indicating higher significance. E Box plots depicting the expression levels of the candidate genes across different T stages (T1-T2 vs. T3-T4) of prostate cancer. Each box plot shows the median, quartiles, and range of expression values. F Box plots showing expression levels of the candidate genes across different Gleason scores (6–7, indicating less aggressive tumours, vs. 8–10, indicating more aggressive tumours) in prostate cancer. Each box plot represents the median, quartiles, and range of expression values. In all panels, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 indicate statistical significance. The size of the dots in volcano plots (B-D) corresponds to the level of significance, with larger dots representing more significant p values. Gene expression data were normalized, and statistical tests were adjusted for multiple comparisons using the Benjamini‒Hochberg method