Over-expression of ISG15 ubiquitin-like modifier 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 ISG15 ubiquitin-like modifier, encoded by ISG15, as among the most differentially expressed genes, transcriptome-wide, in cancers of the endometrium. ISG15 was expressed at significantly higher levels in endometrial tumor tissues as compared to the endometrium. Importantly, primary tumor expression of ISG15 was correlated with recurrence-free survival in patients with endometrial cancer. ISG15 may be a molecule of interest in understanding the etiology or progression of human endometrial cancer.