Across TCGA pan-cancer cohorts, NOVA1 mass-spec protein differs between tumor and matched normal tissue in 4 of 18 cancer types tested, making tumor–normal expression one of NOVA1’s most consistent transcriptional readouts.
The strongest signal is observed in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC), where NOVA1 mass-spec protein is repressed in tumor relative to normal tissue. In most cancer types NOVA1 is over-expressed in tumor, although a few such as HNSC and PDAC show the opposite, repressed pattern.
HNSC, PDAC, and LSCC are the cancer types where NOVA1 tumor–normal differential expression is most reproducible.