Over-expression of ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase complex III subunit VII 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 ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase complex III subunit VII, encoded by UQCRQ, as among the most differentially expressed genes, transcriptome-wide, in cancers of the endometrium. UQCRQ was expressed at significantly higher levels in endometrial tumor tissues as compared to the endometrium. Importantly, in human endometrial cancer, primary tumor expression of UQCRQ was correlated with overall survival in black patients with high mutational burden. UQCRQ may be a molecule of interest in understanding the etiology or progression of human endometrial cancer.