Runx2 as a Prognostic Factor in Human Cancers

Abstract

The RUNX2 transcription factor was discovered as an essential transcriptional regulator for commitment to osteoblast lineage cells and bone formation. Expression of Runx2 in other tissues, such as breast, prostate and lung, has been linked to oncogenesis, cancer progression and metastasis. In this study, we sought to determine the extent of Runx2 involvement in other tumors using a pan–cancer analysis strategy. We correlated RUNX2 expression and clinical-pathological parameters in human cancers by interrogating using publicly available multiparameter clinical data. Our analysis demonstrated that altered RUNX2 expression or function is associated with several cancer types from different tissues. We identified that 3 tumor types were associated with increased RUNX2 expression and decreased expression of RUNX2 is associated with 4 other cancer types. Our pan-cancer analysis for RUNX2 revealed numerous other discoveries for RUNX2 regulation of different cancers identified in each of the pan-cancer databases we used. Both up and down regulation of RUNX2 was observed during progression of specific types of cancers in promoting the distinct types of cancers.