Low expression of ryanodine receptor 2 is associated with poor prognosis in thyroid carcinoma

Genetic alterations are vital in the progression of thyroid carcinoma. Ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2) is reported to serve an important role in several types of human carcinoma. However, the expression and effect of RyR2 in thyroid carcinoma remain unknown. Therefore, the present study analyzed the status of RyR2 in thyroid carcinoma using bioinformatics tools. The mRNA profiles of thyroid carcinoma were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas. RyR2 was distinguished as a differentially expressed gene that has not been reported in thyroid carcinoma. Further analysis indicated that there was selective downregulation of RyR2 expression in thyroid carcinoma tissues compared with that in normal thyroid tissues. Survival analysis showed that RyR2 expression was associated with poorer disease-free survival (DFS) for all patients with thyroid carcinoma. Univariate analysis revealed that a low expression of RyR2 was significantly associated with lymphatic metastasis, extracapsular extension, and the Tumor-Node-Metastasis stage. Cox analysis demonstrated that RyR2 was an independent prognostic factor in thyroid carcinoma for DFS. The biological processes and signaling pathways of RyR2 were reviewed with Gene Set Enrichment Analysis. In conclusion, the present study has revealed that RyR2 is downregulated in thyroid carcinoma, and that low expression of RyR2 is associated with poor prognosis in patients with thyroid carcinoma. RyR2 may therefore serve as a promising tumor suppressor gene in thyroid carcinoma.