Overexpression of SLC35F2 is a potential prognostic biomarker for lung adenocarcinoma

To explore the potential clinical and prognostic significance of Homo sapiens solute carrier family 35 member F2 (SLC35F2) in the context of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). The expression pattern of SLC35F2 in LUAD tissues and normal tissues was analyzed in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets and validated in 12 pairs of fresh clinical LUAD tissues and their corresponding adjacent normal tissues using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blotting. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to assess the protein expression of SLC35F2 in 60 paraffin-embedded LUAD tissues, and its associations with clinicopathological parameters were further examined. The prognostic significance of SLC35F2 mRNA expression was also evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and Cox regression models in LUAD patients from the TCGA database. The potential utility of SLC35F2 as an indicator of recurrence or metastasis was explored through the follow-up of selected clinical LUAD cases. Lastly, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to investigate the underlying biological mechanisms and signaling pathways. Bioinformatics analysis utilizing the TCGA database indicated that SLC35F2 mRNA exhibited heightened expression in LUAD tissues when compared to normal tissues. These findings were further substantiated through the examination of 12 pairs of clinical LUAD tissues and their corresponding adjacent normal tissues, employing qRT-PCR and western blotting techniques. IHC results from a cohort of 60 LUAD patients demonstrated an up-regulation of SLC35F2 in 38 out of 60 individuals (63.3 %), which exhibited a significant correlation with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and clinical stage (all P