Evaluation of Thrombomodulin, hsa-miR-18a-5p, and hsa-miR-18b-5p as Potential Prognostic Biomarkers in Uterine Corpus Endometrial Carcinoma

TL;DR

This study explores the potential of THBD, hsa-miR-18a-5p, and hsa-miR-18b-5p as biomarkers for predicting outcomes in uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma.

Contribution

The study identifies hsa-miR-18a-5p as a potential negative prognostic marker in UCEC.

Findings

THBD gene expression is significantly downregulated in UCEC tissue.

hsa-miR-18a-5p is upregulated and linked to shorter overall survival in UCEC patients.

THBD expression is negatively correlated with hsa-miR-18a-5p.

Abstract

Thrombomodulin (THBD), hsa-miR-18a-5p, and hsa-miR-18b-5p have been frequently mentioned in numerous cancer-related research studies; however, their specific functions in uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) are not well understood. This study aimed to investigate the roles of THBD, hsa-miR-18a-5p, and hsa-miR-18b-5p within a UCEC cohort. We utilized various web-based tools, including GEPIA2, UALCAN, Human Protein Atlas (HPA), TNM Plot, STRING, TargetScan, and ENCORI for our analysis. The expression level of the THBD gene was found to be significantly downregulated (p < 0.05) in UCEC tissue compared to adjacent normal tissue. In contrast, hsa-miR-18a-5p and hsa-miR-18b-5p were both upregulated in UCEC tissue (p < 0.05). Additionally, THBD exhibited a significant hypermethylation level in UCEC tissue (p < 0.05). The elevated expression of hsa-miR-18a-5p was linked to a shorter overall survival (OS) (p = 0.025), while THBD and hsa-miR-18b-5p showed no association with OS (p = 0.87 and p = 0.56, respectively). Notably, THBD expression was significantly negatively correlated with hsa-miR-18a-5p (p = 0.00407), whereas no significant correlation was found between THBD and hsa-miR-18b-5p (p = 0.25). Thus, it can be concluded that increased levels of miR-18a-5p in the UCEC cohort may serve as a negative prognostic marker and a potential therapeutic target. However, further studies are necessary to validate the implications of decreased THBD and increased miR-18b-5p expression levels on the clinical outcomes of these patients.

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