Glycoprotein M6A is differentially expressed in non-small cell lung cancer and associates with patient survival.

Abstract

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States (1). We mined published microarray data (2, 3, 4) to identify differentially expressed genes in NSCLC. We found that gene encoding glycoprotein M6A, GPM6A, was among those whose expression was most quantitatively different in human NSCLC tumors as compared to the lung. GPM6A expression levels were significantly decreased in NSCLC tumors as compared to the lung, and lower expression of GPM6A in patient tumors was significantly associated with worse overall survival. GPM6A may be important for initiation or progression of non-small cell lung cancer in humans.