Over-expression of dihydrolipoamide S-acetyltransferase 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 dihydrolipoamide S-acetyltransferase, encoded by DLAT, as among the most differentially expressed genes, transcriptome-wide, in cancers of the endometrium. DLAT was expressed at significantly higher levels in endometrial tumor tissues as compared to the endometrium. Importantly, in human endometrial cancer, primary tumor expression of DLAT was correlated with overall survival in black patients with low mutational burden. DLAT may be a molecule of interest in understanding the etiology or progression of human endometrial cancer.