The UALCAN and GEPIA Analyses of the TCGA Database Show a Strong Association Between Increased Expression of Stathmin 1 in Adrenocortical Carcinoma Tissues and Patient Survival.

Background/aim: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) arises from the adrenal cortex. This cancer is characterized by a very low incidence, poor prognosis and high mortality rate. Because early detection is extremely difficult and no effective treatment has been established, the five-year survival rate is very low. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify biomarkers and therapeutic target molecules that can serve as early detection and prognostic factors. Stathmin 1 is a ubiquitously expressed 19 kDa cytosolic phosphoprotein, which induces microtubule depolymerization and regulates microtubule-dependent processes such as cell division and motility. Its over-expression has been linked to cell migration and invasion in sarcoma, malignant glioma, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. However, the clinicopathological involvement of stathmin 1 in ACC, has not yet been reported.

Materials and methods: The GEPIA and UALCAN platforms were used to analyze stathmin 1 mRNA expression and its association with survival in patients with ACC using TCGA data.

Results: TCGA analysis showed that the expression of stathmin 1 was significantly increased in ACC tissues, and patients with increased expression of stathmin 1 in cancer tissues had a significantly shorter survival time.

Conclusion: Stathmin 1 is highly expressed in ACC tissues and inversely correlated with patient prognosis, suggesting it may be a potential prognostic biomarker for patients with ACC. Furthermore, the GEPIA and UALCAN platforms proved to be highly effective in investigating the correlation between the expression levels of stathmin 1 in ACC tissues and the survival time of patients using the TCGA database.