Effect of quantum sensitive circadian cryptochromes CRY-1 and CRY-2 gene expression on the survival of pleural mesothelioma patients: In silico investigation of TCGA data.

<bold>Background:</bold> Cryptochrome 1 (CRY1) and Cryptochrome 2 (CRY2) belong to a family of quantum sensitive proteins of the circadian clock machinery. They both have been implicated in cancer development and progression as well as modulating the tumor microenvironment, influencing immune responses and angiogenesis. <bold>Aim:</bold> We aimed at the transcriptomic analysis of CRY1 and CRY2 in pleural mesothelioma patients, focusing on the effect of their expression profile on survival. <bold>Methods:</bold> We used the UALCAN database for the analysis of the TCGA mesothelioma dataset (n=87). We investigated CRY1 and CRY2 gene expression in relation to survival cancer stage, gender and histological subtype. <bold>Results:</bold> Survival analysis from the TCGA MESO data showed that CRY1 didn’t affect survival, whereas high CRY2 expression favored survival in mesothelioma patients (p=0.07 and p=0.05 respectively). CRY1 expression declined significantly with advanced stage while histological type and gender did not affect its expression. CRY2 expression was not affected by cancer stage, gender, and histological subtype. <bold>Conclusions:</bold> Our findings indicate the prognostic relevance of CRY2 gene expression in pleural mesothelioma. Further investigation of CRY2 is warranted in mesothelioma pathophysiology.