Differential expression of dipeptidyl peptidase 3 in cancers of the breast.
Breast cancer affects women at relatively high frequency (1). We mined published microarray datasets (2, 3) to determine in an unbiased fashion and at the systems level genes most differentially expressed in the primary tumors of patients with breast cancer. We report here significant differential expression of the gene encoding dipeptidyl peptidase 3, DPP3, when comparing primary tumors of the breast to the tissue of origin, the normal breast. DPP3 mRNA was present at significantly higher quantities in tumors of the breast as compared to normal breast tissue. Analysis of human survival data revealed that expression of DPP3 in primary tumors of the breast was correlated with overall survival in patients with luminal A and basal type cancers. DPP3 may be of relevance to initiation, maintenance or progression of cancers of the female breast.