Author(s) :

Theodore Hwang.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

Uncharacterized genes represent a substantial fraction of the human genome and remain largely unexplored despite their potential importance in human physiology. C1orf87, also known as carcinoma related EF-hand protein, has been annotated as a protein-coding gene, yet its molecular function and disease relevance have not been established. The analysis of transcriptomic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) comprising 576 lung cancer patients, encompassing more than 20,000 genes per case, revealed its association with patient survival and distinct pathway alterations in gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). In addition, C1orf87 was found to be significantly upregulated in lung adenocarcinoma relative to adjacent normal tissue. However, elevated C1orf87 expression correlated with favorable overall survival (p = 0.097), suggesting a prognostic role. These findings support C1orf87 as a potential predictive biomarker in lung adenocarcinoma and highlight the value of investigating previously uncharacterized genes in uncovering novel cancer biology.