Association of a novel endometrial cancer biomarker panel with prognostic risk, platinum insensitivity, and targetable therapeutic options

Jesus Gonzalez Bosquet, Qing Zhang, William A. Cliby, Jamie N. Bakkum-Gamez, Ling Cen, Sean C. Dowdy, Mark E. Sherman, S. John Weroha, Amy C. Clayton, Benjamin R. Kipp, Kevin C. Halling, Fergus J. Couch, Karl C. Podratz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

During the past decade, the age-adjusted mortality rate for endometrial cancer (EC) increased 1.9% annually with TP53 mutant (TP53-mu) EC disproportionally represented in advanced disease and deaths. Therefore, we aimed to assess pivotal molecular parameters that differentiate clinical outcomes in high- and low-risk EC. Using the Cancer Genome Atlas, we analyzed EC specimens with available DNA sequences and quantitative gene-specific RNA expression data. After polymerase ε (POLE)-mutant specimens were excluded, differential gene-specific mutations and mRNA expressions were annotated and integrated. Consequent to TP53-mu failure to induce p21, derepression of multiple oncogenes harboring promoter p21 repressive sites was observed, including CCNA2 and FOXM1 (P < .001 compared with TP53 wild type [TP53-wt]). TP53-wt EC with high CCNA2 expression (CCNA2-H) had a targeted transcriptomic profile similar to that of TP53-mu EC, suggesting CCNA2 is a seminal determinant for both TP53-wt and TP53-mu EC. CCNA2 enhances E2F1 function, upregulating FOXM1 and CIP2A, as observed in TP53-mu and CCNA2-H TP53-wt EC (P < .001). CIP2A inhibits protein phosphatase 2A, leading to AKT inactivation of GSK3β and restricted oncoprotein degradation; PPP2R1A and FBXW7 mutations yield similar results. Upregulation of FOXM1 and failed degradation of FOXM1 is evidenced by marked upregulation of multiple homologous recombination genes (P < .001). Integrating these molecular aberrations generated a molecular biomarker panel with significant prognostic discrimination (P = 5.8×10−7); adjusting for age, histology, grade, myometrial invasion, TP53 status, and stage, only CCNA2-H/E2F1-H (P = .0003), FBXW7-mu/PPP2R1A-mu (P = .0002), and stage (P = .017) were significant. The generated prognostic molecular classification system identifies dissimilar signaling aberrations potentially amenable to targetable therapeutic options.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere0245664
JournalPloS one
Volume16
Issue number1 January
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Association of a novel endometrial cancer biomarker panel with prognostic risk, platinum insensitivity, and targetable therapeutic options'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this