<i>UBE2D1</i> RNA Expression Was an Independent Unfavorable Prognostic Indicator in Lung Adenocarcinoma, but Not in Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the potential prognostic value of ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2D1 (<i>UBE2D1</i>) RNA expression in different histological subtypes of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A retrospective study was performed by using molecular, clinicopathological, and survival data in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-Lung Cancer. Results showed that both lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) (<i>N</i> = 514) and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) (<i>N</i> = 502) tissues had significantly elevated <i>UBE2D1</i> RNA expression compared to the normal tissues (<i>p</i> < 0.001 and <i>p</i> = 0.036, respectively). <i>UBE2D1</i> RNA expression was significantly higher in LUAD than in LUSC tissues. Increased <i>UBE2D1</i> RNA expression was independently associated with shorter OS (HR: 1.359, 95% CI: 1.031-1.791, <i>p</i> = 0.029) and RFS (HR: 1.842, 95% CI: 1.353-2.508, <i>p</i> < 0.001) in LUAD patients, but not in LUSC patients. DNA amplification was common in LUAD patients (88/551, 16.0%) and was associated with significantly upregulated <i>UBE2D1</i> RNA expression. Based on these findings, we infer that <i>UBE2D1</i> RNA expression might only serve as an independent prognostic indicator of unfavorable OS and RFS in LUAD, but not in LUSC.