UBE2C: A pan-cancer diagnostic and prognostic biomarker revealed through bioinformatics analysis

Sep 21, 2026

Cancer’s diverse molecular features make diagnosis and prognosis a persistent global challenge. This study aims to pinpoint critical gene alterations across solid tumors by analyzing TCGA datasets, identifying pan-cancer differentially expressed genes, and integrating co-expression, protein–protein interaction, pathway enrichment, and gene regulatory network analyses. Results highlight UBE2C as a common DEG across 28 cancer types, with elevated expression linked to overall survival and disease-free survival in multiple cancers, plus strong diagnostic AUC performance.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages16

Reading Time40 min

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Abstract

Background

Materials and methods

Results

Conclusion

Introduction

DOI: 10.1002/cnr2.2032 O R IG INA L ARTI CLE UBE2C: A pan-cancer diagnostic and prognostic biomarker revealed through bioinformatics analysis Pooya Jalali 1 | Amir Samii 2 | Malihe Rezaee 3 | Arvin Shahmoradi 4 | Fatemeh Pashizeh 5 | Zahra Salehi 6,7 1Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Centre, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2Department of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 3Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 4Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Paramedical, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran 5Department of Clinical Immunology, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran 6Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 7Research Institute for Oncology, Hematology and Cell Therapy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Correspondence Zahra Salehi, Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Shariati Hospital, Karegar Ave., Tehran 14114, Iran. Email: [zahra.salehi6463@yahoo.com](zahra.salehi6463@yahoo.com), [zsalehi@sina.tums.ac.ir](zsalehi@sina.tums.ac.ir) Abstract Background: The diverse and complex attributes of cancer have made it a daunting challenge to overcome globally and remains to endanger human life. Detection of critical cancer-related gene alterations in solid tumor samples better defines patient diagnosis and prognosis, and indicates what targeted therapies must be administered to improve cancer patients' outcome. Materials and methods: To identify genes that have aberrant expression across different cancer types, differential expressed genes were detected within the TCGA datasets. Subsequently, the DEGs common to all pan cancers were determined. Furthermore, various methods were employed to gain genetic alterations, co-expression genes network and protein–protein interaction (PPI) network, pathway enrichment analysis of common genes. Finally, the gene regulatory network was constructed. Results: Intersectional analysis identified UBE2C as a common DEG between all 28 types of studied cancers. Upregulated UBE2C expression was significantly correlated with OS and DFS of 10 and 9 types of cancer patients. Also, UBE2C can be a diagnostic factor in CESC, CHOL, GBM, and UCS with AUC = 100% and diagnose 19 cancer types with AUC ≥90% . A ceRNA network constructed including UBE2C, 41 TFs, 10 shared miRNAs, and 21 circRNAs and 128 lncRNAs. Conclusion: In summary, UBE2C can be a theranostic gene, which may serve as a reliable biomarker in diagnosing cancers, improving treatment responses and increasing the overall survival of cancer patients and can be a promising gene to be target by cancer drugs in the future. KEYWOR DS bioinformatics analysis, cancer diagnosing, pan-cancer, TCGA, UBE2C 1 | INTRODUCTION The diverse and complex attributes of cancer have made it a daunting challenge to overcome globally and remains to endanger human life. Arvin Shahmoradi and Fatemeh Pashizeh contributed equally to this work. As a leading cause of mortality, each year new cases are added, This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2024 The Authors. Cancer Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Cancer Reports. 2024;7:e2032 . [https://doi.org/10.1002/cnr2.2032](https://doi.org/10.1002/cnr2.2032) [wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cnr2](wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cnr2) 1 of 16 intensifying the burden of the disease. The annual prevalence of cancer was a

FAQs

What data source and gene-selection strategy were used in this study?

The study used TCGA datasets to detect differential expressed genes across multiple cancer types, then determined the DEGs common to all pan cancers.

Why is UBE2C highlighted as a key biomarker?

Intersectional analysis identified UBE2C as a common DEG across 28 cancer types, and upregulated UBE2C expression was significantly associated with OS and DFS in multiple cancers.

What additional regulatory and interaction analyses support the findings?

The workflow included co-expression analysis, protein–protein interaction (PPI) network construction, pathway enrichment analysis, gene regulatory network construction, and a ceRNA network combining UBE2C, transcription factors, miRNAs, circRNAs, and lncRNAs.

Sep 21, 2026

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