Over-expression of pyrophosphatase (inorganic) 1 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 pyrophosphatase (inorganic) 1, encoded by PPA1, as among the most differentially expressed genes, transcriptome-wide, in cancers of the endometrium. PPA1 was expressed at significantly higher levels in endometrial tumor tissues as compared to the endometrium. Importantly, in human endometrial cancer, primary tumor expression of PPA1 was correlated with recurrence-free survival in black patients with low mutational burden. PPA1 may be a molecule of interest in understanding the etiology or progression of human endometrial cancer.