Over-expression of cytoskeleton associated protein 2 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 cytoskeleton associated protein 2, encoded by CKAP2, as among the most differentially expressed genes, transcriptome-wide, in cancers of the endometrium. CKAP2 was expressed at significantly higher levels in endometrial tumor tissues as compared to the endometrium. Importantly, in human endometrial cancer, primary tumor expression of CKAP2 was correlated with recurrence-free survival in white patients with high and low mutational burden. CKAP2 may be a molecule of interest in understanding the etiology or progression of human endometrial cancer.