Across TCGA pan-cancer cohorts, HLA-DQA1 mass-spec protein differs between tumor and matched normal tissue in 5 of 18 cancer types tested, making tumor–normal expression one of HLA-DQA1’s most consistent transcriptional readouts.
The strongest signal is observed in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC), where HLA-DQA1 mass-spec protein is more highly expressed in tumor relative to normal tissue. In most cancer types HLA-DQA1 is over-expressed in tumor, although a few such as COAD and LSCC show the opposite, repressed pattern.
CCRCC, COAD, and HNSC are the cancer types where HLA-DQA1 tumor–normal differential expression is most reproducible.