Across TCGA pan-cancer cohorts, AKR1C1 mass-spec protein differs between tumor and matched normal tissue in 4 of 18 cancer types tested, making tumor–normal expression one of AKR1C1’s most consistent transcriptional readouts.
The strongest signal is observed in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), where AKR1C1 mass-spec protein is more highly expressed in tumor relative to normal tissue. In most cancer types AKR1C1 is over-expressed in tumor, although a few such as CCRCC and COAD show the opposite, repressed pattern.
LSCC, CCRCC, and COAD are the cancer types where AKR1C1 tumor–normal differential expression is most reproducible.