Differential expression of the integrator complex subunit 7 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 the integrator complex subunit 7, INTS7, when comparing primary tumors of the breast to the tissue of origin, the normal breast. INTS7 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 INTS7 in primary tumors of the breast was correlated with distant metastasis-free survival in patients with luminal A and HER2+ type cancers, but contrarily. INTS7 may be of relevance to initiation, maintenance or progression of cancers of the female breast.