Across TCGA pan-cancer cohorts, DOLK mass-spec protein differs between tumor and matched normal tissue in 2 of 18 cancer types tested, making tumor–normal expression one of DOLK’s most consistent transcriptional readouts.
The strongest signal is observed in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC), where DOLK mass-spec protein is more highly expressed in tumor relative to normal tissue. In most cancer types DOLK is over-expressed in tumor, although a few such as LUAD show the opposite, repressed pattern.
HNSC and LUAD are the cancer types where DOLK tumor–normal differential expression is most reproducible.