An integrative analysis of the tumor suppressors and oncogenes from sexual dimorphism and gene expression alteration features in thyroid cancer

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Huang, Yue^{a; 1} | Wang, Yaoxin^{b; 1} | Liu, Sining^c | Xu, Zhengmin^{a; *} | Chen, Wen-Xia^{a; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China | [b] Department of Laboratory Medicine, Wu Song Branch, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China | [c] Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hainan Women and Children’s Medical Center, Hainan, China

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding authors: Zhengmin Xu and Wen-Xia Chen, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wan Yuan Road, Shanghai 201102, China. E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected].

Note: [1] Yue Huang and Yaoxin Wang equally contributed to this study.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The incidence of thyroid cancer has risen rapidly over the last decades. Although mortality rates are relatively low compared to other cancers, the rate of new cases started to increase in the early 2000s. While tumor suppressors and oncogenes were recently identified in thyroid cancer, the potential roles of these genes in thyroid cancer remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: Analyze the roles and functions of tumor suppressors and oncogenes in thyroid cancer. METHODS: Thyroid cancer data were collected from public databases, such as the UCSC Xena database of TCGA thyroid cancer, TISIDB, and UALCAN. The genes frequently associated with unfavorable thyroid cancer were examined and validated. The association of these target genes with thyroid tumorigenesis, stages, subtypes, and survival rates were analyzed. Additionally, the genes aberrantly expressed in thyroid cancer and significantly involved in thyroid tumorigenesis, stages, subtypes, and survival rates were identified. RESULTS: Female sex was identified as a risk factor for thyroid cancer. The expression of PAPSS2, PDLIM3, COPZ2, ALDH1B1, ANTXR1, GUF1, and SENP6 negatively correlated with thyroid cancer prognosis. CONCLUSION: Female sex was a risk factor for thyroid cancer. In addition, our analysis suggested that PAPSS2, PDLIM3, COPZ2, ALDH1B1, ANTXR1, GUF1, and SENP6 are negatively correlated with the prognosis of thyroid cancer. The expression of ANTXR1, GUF1, and PDLIM3 was weakly associated with thyroid cancer’s immune and molecular subtypes.

Keywords: Database, thyroid cancer, sex differences, prognosis gene, anticancer drugs

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-230029

Journal: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 1-16, 2023