Abnormal TACC3 Expression is an Independent Prognostic Biomarker in Lung Carcinoma

Abnormal expression of transforming acidic coiled-coil protein 3 (TACC3) has been reported in many types of human malignancies. However, the expression of TACC3 and its clinical significance have not been well characterized in lung carcinoma (LUAD). The aim of this study was to investigate possible associations between tumor expression of TACC3 and the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of LUAD patients.

The expression of TACC3 in LUAD patients was determined using the Oncomine, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA), UALCAN, and Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases. The expression of TACC3 in LUAD tissues was also determined by qRT-PCR.

TACC3 was found to be significantly overexpressed in LUAD tumors compared with non-tumor tissue in the above public databases. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that TACC3 could have diagnostic value in LUAD patients. Kaplan-Meier analysis further indicated that high TACC3 expression in tumors was significantly associated with worse overall survival (OS) in LUAD patients. In addition, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that high TACC3 expression was an independent factor for worse OS in LUAD patients. Finally, based on gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA 3.0), we identified several potential pathways related to TACC3 that were enriched in the high TACC3 expression phenotype.

The present study provides evidence that TACC3 expression is upregulated in LUAD and may be an independent risk factor for worse prognosis in these patients.