Over-expression of centromere protein U 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 centromere protein U, encoded by CENPU, as among the most differentially expressed genes, transcriptome-wide, in cancers of the endometrium. CENPU was expressed at significantly higher levels in endometrial tumor tissues as compared to the endometrium. Importantly, in human endometrial cancer, primary tumor expression of CENPU was correlated with recurrence-free survival in white patients with low mutational burden. CENPU may be a molecule of interest in understanding the etiology or progression of human endometrial cancer.