# AUC and Correlation coefficient **URL:** \ **Category:** Q&A\ **Created:** [July 16, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://forum.depmap.org/t/auc-and-correlation-coefficient/4361 "2025-07-16T19:25:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sudarshs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@sudarshs](https://forum.depmap.org/u/sudarshs)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://forum.depmap.org/t/auc-and-correlation-coefficient/4361/1 "2025-07-16T19:25:50Z")
I am new to using Depmap. Just a very simple question. When I enter a drug of interest, it produces a list of genes “Top Correlated Expression”. There are mainly genes with a positive correlation. Just to clarify, does a positive correlation indicate that the higher expression of the gene, the more RESISTANT a cell likely is to the drug of interest? ---
**Author:** ![SongSong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@SongSong](https://forum.depmap.org/u/SongSong)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 4:29am UTC](https://forum.depmap.org/t/auc-and-correlation-coefficient/4361/2 "2025-07-24T04:29:10Z")
It looks like a similar [question](https://forum.depmap.org/t/interpretation-of-drug-sensitivity-auc-and-logfold-change-value/492) has been asked on the forum. In short, a higher AUC value generally reflects less sensitivity (= more resistance) to the drug. Therefore, if a gene’s expression is positively correlated with the AUC, it means that cells expressing more of that gene tend to be less sensitive (more resistant) to the drug. ---
**Author:** ![JoeFannighan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@JoeFannighan](https://forum.depmap.org/u/JoeFannighan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://forum.depmap.org/t/auc-and-correlation-coefficient/4361/3 "2026-06-25T20:47:31Z")
if a gene’s exposition is positively correlated with auc, more of that gene means higher drug resistance. So yeah, you’re on the right track with your thinking