Over-expression of insulin degrading enzyme in human endometrial cancer.

Gynecologic cancers including cancers of the endometrium are a clinical problem (1-4). We mined published microarray data (5, 6) to discover genes associated with endometrial cancers by comparing transcriptomes of the normal endometrium and endometrial tumors from humans. We identified the insulin degrading enzyme, encoded by IDE, as among the most differentially expressed genes, transcriptome-wide, in cancers of the endometrium. IDE was expressed at significantly higher levels in endometrial tumor tissues as compared to the endometrium. Importantly, primary tumor expression of IDE was correlated with overall survival in patients with endometrial cancer. IDE may be a molecule of interest in understanding the etiology or progression of human endometrial cancer.