Over-expression of mucin 1, cell surface associated in human endometrial cancer.
Gynecologic cancers including cancers of the endometrium are a clinical problem (1-4). We mined published microarray data (5, 6) to discover genes associated with endometrial cancers by comparing transcriptomes of the normal endometrium and endometrial tumors from humans. We identified mucin 1, cell surface associated, encoded by MUC1, as among the most differentially expressed genes, transcriptome-wide, in cancers of the endometrium. MUC1 was expressed at significantly higher levels in endometrial tumor tissues as compared to the endometrium. Importantly, in human endometrial cancer, primary tumor expression of MUC1 was correlated with overall survival in white patients with low mutational burden. MUC1 may be a molecule of interest in understanding the etiology or progression of human endometrial cancer.