Bioinformatic Analysis for the Prognostic Implication of Genes Encoding Epithelial Sodium Channel in Cervical Cancer

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women. Among the sodium ion channels associated with cancer development, voltage gated sodium channel plays an important role in pathophysiology of cervical cancer; however, the clinicopathological implication of epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) has not been explored. PURPOSE: This study focused on identifying dysregulation of ENaC encoding genes, including SCNN1A, SCNN1B, and SCNN1G, and their relationship with clinicopathologic features in cervical cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: RNA sequencing data of ENaC-encoding genes, clinicopathologic data, and survival data of cervical cancer patients were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas cohort. Microarray data of ENaC-encoding genes were obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus datasets: GSE6791 and GSE63514. RESULTS: The expression levels of SCNN1A, SCNN1B, and SCNN1G were positively correlated with each other. SCNN1A, SCNN1B, and SCNN1G are significantly overexpressed in normal tissues than in tumor tissues. Survival analysis showed that simultaneous overexpression of all three genes associated with better overall survival (OS). Each overexpression of SCNN1B and SCNN1G was significantly associated with better OS. Moreover, each expression level of SCNN1A, SCNN1B, and SCNN1G was negatively correlated with histologic grade of tumor. CONCLUSION: ENaC-encoding genes might be potential biological markers to better predict survival outcomes in cervical cancer patients.