Over-expression of desumoylating isopeptidase 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 desumoylating isopeptidase 1, encoded by DESI1, as among the most differentially expressed genes, transcriptome-wide, in cancers of the endometrium. DESI1 was expressed at significantly higher levels in endometrial tumor tissues as compared to the endometrium. Importantly, in human endometrial cancer, primary tumor expression of DESI1 was correlated with recurrence-free survival in black patients with high mutational burden. DESI1 may be a molecule of interest in understanding the etiology or progression of human endometrial cancer.