Gene expression signature from tumor initiating population predicts clinical outcome in undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS)
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ABSTRACT: Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcomas (UPS) are thought to harbor a small population of cells with unique capability of tumor initiation and maintenance. These tumor initiating cells (TICs) are regarded as the drivers of cancer progression. However, the evidence for this tumor initiating cell (TIC) concept is based on the xenotransplantation assays in mice and the clinical relevance of the TIC concept remains unclear in UPS. We hypothesized that the distinct properties of the TICs would be reflected in the clinical outcome if the TIC concept is relevant in UPS. Here we performed global gene expression profiling of TIC-enriched side population (SP) fractions and non-SP fractions sorted from 15 UPS primary samples. Ninety-three genes were differentially expressed in between SP fractions and non-SP fractions. The UPS TIC gene expression signature score summarizing expression of these genes was calculated for a gene expression data and was correlated with clinical outcome. In the 15 samples used to generate the signature, patients with high scores in the SP fractions were associated with worse survival. We then tested the two independent published datasets with gene expression data on bulk unsorted samples, assuming that the TIC gene expression would persist in the non-TICs. Patients with high scores had significantly worse metastasis-free survival in both datasets. The significance of the score remained significant even considering for the known prognostic factor of UPS. Thus, gene expression signature derived from UPS TICs predicts clinical outcome, suggesting the clinical relevance of the TIC concept in UPS.
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE55973 | GEO | 2016/02/01
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA241462
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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