The T-box transcription factor brachyury behaves as a tumor suppressor in gliomas.

The oncogene brachyury (TBXT) is a T-box transcription factor that is overexpressed in multiple solid tumors and is associated with tumor aggressiveness and poor patient prognosis. Gliomas comprise the most common and aggressive group of brain tumors, and at the present time the functional and clinical impact of brachyury expression has not been investigated previously in these neoplasms. Brachyury expression (mRNA and protein) was assessed in normal brain (n = 67), glioma tissues (n = 716) and cell lines (n = 42), and further in silico studies were undertaken using genomic databases totaling 3115 samples.