Expression of Thymidylate Synthase in Cancer: A Tissue Microarray Study Involving 17,371 Cancers from 136 Tumor Entities
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background/Objectives: Thymidylate synthase (TYMS) represents an important therapeutic target. Methods: In this study, TYMS expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry on a tissue microarray containing 17,371 samples from 136 different tumor types. Results: TYMS staining was seen in 42.9% of 15,361 analyzable tumors, with weak staining in 35.4%, moderate in 5.7%, and strong in 1.8%. TYMS occurred in at least one case of 127 categories, of which 71 showed TYMS staining in at least 50% of cases, and 56 included at least one case with strong positivity. TYMS positivity occurred most commonly in lymphomas (81.3–96.5%), sarcomas and sarcomatoid carcinomas (33.3–100%), malignant melanoma (70.5–90.7%), cervical adenocarcinoma (78.3%), and squamous cell carcinomas of various sites (57.1–77.9%). High TYMS expression was linked to advanced pT (p = 0.0097), high grade (p < 0.0001), ER negativity (p < 0.0001), and PR negativity (p = 0.0002) in invasive breast cancer of no special type; high grade (p < 0.0050), high UICC stage (p = 0.0060), and nodal metastasis (p = 0.0120) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC); high grade (p < 0.05) and nodal metastasis (p = 0.0045) in papillary RCC; high Gleason grade (p < 0.0001) and advanced pT stage (p = 0.0149) in prostatic adenocarcinoma; high pT (p < 0.0001), nodal metastasis (p = 0.005), lymphatic (p = 0.0064) and venous invasion (p = 0.0005), left side location (p < 0.0001), and microsatellite instability (p < 0.0001) in colorectal adenocarcinoma; and high grade (p < 0.0001) in squamous cell carcinomas of different sites. Conclusions: TYMS is often overexpressed across different cancer entities and shows associations with several adverse histopathological parameters commonly used to describe tumor phenotypes.
Source: Biomedicines
Authors: Florian Lutz, Lisa Sophie Hannemann, Seyma Büyücek, Katharina Möller, Florian Viehweger, Ria Schlichter, Andreas M. Luebke, Martina Kluth, Claudia Hube-Magg, Andrea Hinsch, Christian Bernreuther, Guido Sauter, David Dum, Andreas H. Marx, Ronald Simon, Till Krech, Till S. Clauditz, Frank Jacobsen, Eike Burandt, Stefan Steurer, Patrick Lebok, Christoph Fraune, Sarah Minner, Natalia Gorbokon, Maximilian Lennartz
Language: English
Subfield: Cancer Research
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
OpenAlex ID: W7169136114