Differential expression of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 2 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 eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 2, EIF4EBP2, when comparing primary tumors of the breast to the tissue of origin, the normal breast. EIF4EBP2 was also differentially expressed in lymph node metastasis in human breast cancer. EIF4EBP2 mRNA was present at significantly lower quantities in tumors of the breast as compared to normal breast tissue. Analysis of human survival data revealed that expression of EIF4EBP2 in primary tumors of the breast was correlated with recurrence-free survival in patients with luminal B and HER2+ subtype cancer, demonstrating a relationship between primary tumor expression of a differentially expressed gene and patient survival outcomes influenced by PAM50 molecular subtype. EIF4EBP2 may be of relevance to initiation, maintenance or progression of cancers of the female breast.