High expression of MUC20 drives tumorigenesis and predicts poor survival in endometrial cancer

Mucins (MUCs) have been reported to play a critical role in the tumorigenesis of different cancers. This study was performed to explore the effect of MUC20 in endometrial cancer (EC). A total of 541 patients with EC were examined from The Cancer Genome Atlas. The relationship between MUC20 expression and clinical characteristics was analyzed with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and logistic regression. The Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox regression model was performed to evaluate the prognosis. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted. MUC20 high expression was associated with age, histology, positive peritoneal cytology, advanced stage, and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival showed that patients with MUC20 high expression had a poorer prognosis than those with MUC20 low expression. Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that MUC20 high expression was an independent prognostic factor for worse overall survival (hazard ratio = 1.93, 95% confidence interval = 1.00-3.74). Moreover, interferon α/γ response, cell-cell adhesion, O-glycan processing, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) pathway were associated with MUC20 high expression. MUC20 high expression may be a potential prognostic molecular factor of poor survival. The interferon α/γ response, cell-cell adhesion, O-glycan processing, and ROS pathway may be the key processes regulated by MUC20 in EC.