The UALCAN and GEPIA Analyses of the TCGA Database Show a Strong Association Between Increased Expression of in Adrenocortical Carcinoma Tissues and Patient Survival.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) arises from the adrenal cortex. This cancer is characterized by a very low incidence, poor prognosis and high mortality rate. Because early detection is extremely difficult and no effective treatment has been established, the five-year survival rate is very low. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify biomarkers and therapeutic target molecules that can serve as early detection and prognostic factors. Stathmin 1 is a ubiquitously expressed 19 kDa cytosolic phosphoprotein, which induces microtubule depolymerization and regulates microtubule-dependent processes such as cell division and motility. Its over-expression has been linked to cell migration and invasion in sarcoma, malignant glioma, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. However, the clinicopathological involvement of stathmin 1 in ACC, has not yet been reported.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The GEPIA and UALCAN platforms were used to analyze mRNA expression and its association with survival in patients with ACC using TCGA data.

RESULTS

TCGA analysis showed that the expression of was significantly increased in ACC tissues, and patients with increased expression of in cancer tissues had a significantly shorter survival time.

CONCLUSION

is highly expressed in ACC tissues and inversely correlated with patient prognosis, suggesting it may be a potential prognostic biomarker for patients with ACC. Furthermore, the GEPIA and UALCAN platforms proved to be highly effective in investigating the correlation between the expression levels of in ACC tissues and the survival time of patients using the TCGA database.