Increased Expression of DDX39 in Uveal Melanoma Is Associated With Patient Prognosis

Uveal melanoma is one of the most common primary intraocular tumors. It arises from melanocytes in the uvea and accounts for 3-5% of all melanomas. Uveal melanoma has a high metastatic potential. About half of the patients develop distant metastases including the liver, and the median survival time has been reported to be 4-5 months. Although the primary treatment for uveal melanoma has evolved from enucleation to eye-saving local treatment, there is no impact on the occurrence of distant metastases or overall survival. At least 50% of patients will develop metastases and the 3-year survival rate drops rapidly to 13%. Therefore, it is important to find prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic molecular targets that improve survival in patients with uveal melanoma. DDX39 is an Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp (DEAD) box RNA helicase required for mRNA transcription, splicing, and transport. There have been several reports of DDX39 over-expression in tumor tissues and cells, and we reported that patients with adrenocortical carcinoma with high DDX39 expression had a significantly worse prognosis. The clinicopathological involvement of DDX39 in uveal melanoma has not yet been documented.

We analyzed DDX39 mRNA expression and survival in patients with uveal melanoma using the GEPIA2 and UALCAN platforms.

DDX39 was found to be up-regulated in uveal melanoma tissues with increasing stage, and this up-regulated expression was inversely correlated with prolonged patient survival.

DDX39 may be one of the potential prognostic biomarkers for patients with uveal melanoma.