Sexually dimorphic impact of the iron-regulating gene, HFE, on survival in glioblastoma

BACKGROUND: The median survival for patients with glioblastoma (GBM), the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults, has remained approximately 1 year for more than 2 decades. Recent advances in the field have identified GBM as a sexually dimorphic disease. It is less prevalent in females and they have better survival compared to males. The molecular mechanism of this difference has not yet been established. Iron is essential for many biological processes supporting tumor growth and its regulation is impacted by sex. Therefore, we interrogated the expression of a key component of cellular iron regulation, the METHODS: We analyzed TCGA microarray gene expression and clinical data of all primary GBM patients ( RESULTS: In low CONCLUSIONS: The level o