Background

Uveal melanoma (UVM) is a rare cancer that shows sex difference in incidence and survival, with little previous report for the underlying mechanism.

Methods

This study used the SEER data (1974-2016) for an age-dependent analysis on sex difference in UVM, and further used the TCGA-UVM genomics dataset for analyzing the differential gene expression profiles in tumors from men and women.

Results

Our results demonstrate a sex difference in older age (≥40 years) but not in younger patients, with men exhibiting a higher incidence rate than women. However, younger women have shown a continuous increasing trend since 1974. Examining the 11 major oncogenes and tumor suppressors in UVM revealed that EIF1AX showed a significant sex difference in mRNA accumulation and copy number variation, with female tumors expressing higher levels of EIF1AX and exhibiting more variations in copy numbers. EIF1AX mRNA levels were significantly inversely correlated with EIF1AX copy numbers in female tumors only, but not in male tumors. Differential gene expression analysis at the whole genomic level identified a set of 92 protein-coding and 16 RNA-coding genes which exhibited differential expression in men and women (fold of change cutoff at 1.7, adjusted p value < 0.05, FDR < 0.05). Network analysis showed significant difference in immune response and in disulfide bond formation, with EGR1/EGR2 and PDIA2 genes as regulators for immune response and disulfide bond formation, respectively. The melanocortin pathway which is linked to both melanin synthesis and obesity seems to be altered with unclear significance, as the sex difference in POMC, DCT/TYRP2, and MRAP2 was observed but with no clear direction.

Conclusion

This study reveals possible mechanisms for the sex difference in tumorigenesis of UVM which has potentials for better understanding and prevention of UVM.