Across TCGA pan-cancer cohorts, SMAD5 mass-spec protein differs between tumor and matched normal tissue in 4 of 18 cancer types tested, making tumor–normal expression one of SMAD5’s most consistent transcriptional readouts.
The strongest signal is observed in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC), where SMAD5 mass-spec protein is repressed in tumor relative to normal tissue. In most cancer types SMAD5 is over-expressed in tumor, although a few such as HNSC and LSCC show the opposite, repressed pattern.
HNSC, LSCC, and CCRCC are the cancer types where SMAD5 tumor–normal differential expression is most reproducible.