Expression patterns and clinical significances of ENO2 in lung cancer: an analysis based on Oncomine database

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is a heterogeneous malignant tumor involving more than 50 histological subtypes. Currently, molecularly targeted drugs have been shown to have promising applications in the clinical treatment of lung cancer. This study aims to explore the expression patterns and prognostic potential of enolase 2 (ENO2) in lung cancer. METHODS: Differential expressions of ENO2 in lung cancer cases were analyzed using the Oncomine database. Meanwhile, the prognostic potentials of ENO2 in lung cancer were assessed by deploying the Kaplan-Meier plotter database. RESULTS: Forty-one studies reported a significant difference in ENO2 expression between tumors and the normal healthy control tissues. Among all the studies, there was an upregulation of ENO2 in 29 studies, and downregulation in 12 studies. 9/41 studies revealed upregulated ENO2 in distinct types of tumor tissues, including cervical cancer, esophageal cancer, kidney cancer, leukemia, melanoma, pancreatic cancer, sarcoma, and lung cancer. Furthermore, upregulated ENO2 was identified in 365 cases of lung cancer (P<0.05). By analyzing the Kaplan-Meier Plotter database, the ENO2 level was negatively correlated to the overall survival of lung cancer patients (P<0.05). Subsequently, subgroup analysis revealed that the prognostic potential of ENO2 was much more pronounced in lung adenocarcinoma patients (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ENO2 is upregulated in lung cancer tissues and linked to the prognosis. It can be used as a therapeutic target for developing lung cancer drugs.