Comparative analysis of SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 expression in multiple solid tumors and matched non-diseased tissues

The emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses a global public health emergency. SARS-CoV-2 employs the host cell receptor ACE2 for cellular entry. Nonetheless, the differences in ACE2 expression pattern in lung versus other normal and solid tumor tissues remain incompletely characterized. Here, we analyze a large data set comprising ACE2 mRNA expression for 7592 tissue samples across 22 types of primary solid tumor and 4461 samples across matched 18 non-diseased tissues. Our results unravel eight normal tissues and 10 primary solid tumors, which might be at high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. These findings may provide additional insight into the prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection, in particular for patients with these 10 vulnerable cancer types.