CPEB4 is a candidate biomarker for defining metastatic cancers and directing personalized therapies.

Identification of prognostic markers of metastatic disease and targets for treatment is critical for the management of cancer patients. Cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein 4 (CPEB4) associates with specific sequences in mRNA 3' untranslated regions and promote translation by inducing cytoplasmic polyadenylation. Aberrant expression of CPEB4 correlates with certain types of cancer, indicating that CPEB4 might play critical roles in the control of cancer proliferation and metastasis. Here we demonstrate that (A) CPEB4 is selectively overexpressed in invasive or metastatic cancers and has the potential to be used for defining cancer subtypes. (B) CPEB4 might promote invasion and metastasis by exerting its effect on TGF-beta signaling pathway. (C) By generating a CPEB4 regulated gene-drug network, we show that CPEB4 is a candidate biomarker that could be beneficial for directing therapies. Taken together, our results indicate that CPEB4 is a candidate biomarker for defining metastatic cancers and directing personalized therapies.