Correlation between Id Genes Expressions and Histological Grade, Sonographic Findings in Breast Cancer

Inhibitor of differentiation (ID) proteins are a family of transcription factors that contribute to maintaining proliferation during embryogenesis as they avoid cell differentiation. Afterward, their expression is mainly silenced, but their reactivation and contribution to tumor development have been suggested. In breast cancer (BC), the overexpression of ID1 has been previously described. However, whether the remaining ID genes have a specific role in this neoplasia is still unclear. We studied the mRNA expression of all ID genes by q RT-PCR in BC cell lines and 307 breast carcinomas, including all BC subtypes. Our results showed that ID genes are highly expressed in all cell lines tested. However, ID4 presented higher expression in BC cell lines compared to a healthy breast epithelium cell line. In accordance, ID1 and ID4 were predominantly overexpressed in Triple-Negative and HER2-enriched samples. Moreover, high levels of both genes were associated with larger tumor size, histological grade 3, necrosis and vascular invasion, and poorer patients’ outcomes. In conclusion, ID1 and ID4 may act as biomarkers of tumor aggressiveness and worse prognosis in breast cancer, and they could be used as potential targets for new treatments discover.

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Tumor collagen framework from bright-field histology images predicts overall survival of breast carcinoma patients

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-94862-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mindaugas Morkunas ◽

Dovile Zilenaite ◽

Aida Laurinaviciene ◽

Povilas Treigys ◽

Arvydas Laurinavicius

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Breast Carcinoma ◽

Cancer Patient ◽

Breast Cancer Patient ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Regional Lymph Node ◽

Histological Grade ◽

Biological Information ◽

Lymph Node Status ◽

Bright Field

AbstractWithin the tumor microenvironment, specifically aligned collagen has been shown to stimulate tumor progression by directing the migration of metastatic cells along its structural framework. Tumor-associated collagen signatures (TACS) have been linked to breast cancer patient outcome. Robust and affordable methods for assessing biological information contained in collagen architecture need to be developed. We have developed a novel artificial neural network (ANN) based approach for tumor collagen segmentation from bright-field histology images and have tested it on a set of tissue microarray sections from early hormone receptor-positive invasive ductal breast carcinoma stained with Sirius Red (1 core per patient, n = 92). We designed and trained ANNs on sets of differently annotated image patches to segment collagen fibers and extracted 37 features of collagen fiber morphometry, density, orientation, texture, and fractal characteristics in the entire cohort. Independent instances of ANN models trained on highly differing annotations produced reasonably concordant collagen segmentation masks and allowed reliable prognostic Cox regression models (with likelihood ratios 14.11–22.99, at p-value < 0.05) superior to conventional clinical parameters (size of the primary tumor (T), regional lymph node status (N), histological grade (G), and patient age). Additionally, we noted statistically significant differences of collagen features between tumor grade groups, and the factor analysis revealed features resembling the TACS concept. Our proposed method offers collagen framework segmentation from bright-field histology images and provides novel image-based features for better breast cancer patient prognostication.

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Age-Related Biology of Early-Stage Operable Breast Cancer and Its Impact on Clinical Outcome

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers13061417 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 1417

Author(s):

Binafsha M. Syed ◽

Andrew R. Green ◽

Emad A. Rakha ◽

David A.L. Morgan ◽

Ian O. Ellis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Early Stage ◽

Histological Grade ◽

Survival Rates ◽

Growth Factor Receptor ◽

Progesterone Receptors ◽

Biological Characteristics ◽

Cancer Specific Survival ◽

Age Related ◽

Significant Difference

As age advances, breast cancer (BC) tends to change its biological characteristics. This study aimed to explore the natural progression of such changes. The study included 2383 women with clinically T0-2N0-1M0 BC, managed by primary surgery and optimal adjuvant therapy in a dedicated BC facility. Tissue micro-arrays were constructed from their surgical specimens and indirect immunohistochemistry was used for analysis of a large panel (n = 16) of relevant biomarkers. There were significant changes in the pattern of expression of biomarkers related to luminal (oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptors (PgR), human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER-2), E-cadherin, MUC1, bcl2 CK7/8, CK18 and bcl2) and basal (CK5/6, CK14, p53 and Ki67) phenotypes, lymph node stage, histological grade and pathological size when decade-wise comparison was made (p < 0.05). The ages of 40 years and 70 years appeared to be the milestones marking a change of the pattern. There were significantly higher metastasis free and breast cancer specific survival rates among older women with ER positive tumours while there was no significant difference in the ER negative group according to age. Biological characteristics of BC show a pattern of change with advancing age, where 40 years and 70 years appear as important milestones. The pattern suggests <40 years as the phase with aggressive phenotypes, >70 years as the less aggressive phase and 40–70 years being the transitional phase.

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Cancer Grade Model: a multi-gene machine learning-based risk classification for improving prognosis in breast cancer

British Journal of Cancer ◽

10.1038/s41416-021-01455-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

E. Amiri Souri ◽

A. Chenoweth ◽

A. Cheung ◽

S. N. Karagiannis ◽

S. Tsoka

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Machine Learning ◽

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Histological Grade ◽

Tumour Size ◽

Clinical Decision ◽

Gene Signature ◽

Risk Classification ◽

Breast Cancers ◽

Grade 3

Abstract Background Prognostic stratification of breast cancers remains a challenge to improve clinical decision making. We employ machine learning on breast cancer transcriptomics from multiple studies to link the expression of specific genes to histological grade and classify tumours into a more or less aggressive prognostic type. Materials and methods Microarray data of 5031 untreated breast tumours spanning 33 published datasets and corresponding clinical data were integrated. A machine learning model based on gradient boosted trees was trained on histological grade-1 and grade-3 samples. The resulting predictive model (Cancer Grade Model, CGM) was applied on samples of grade-2 and unknown-grade (3029) for prognostic risk classification. Results A 70-gene signature for assessing clinical risk was identified and was shown to be 90% accurate when tested on known histological-grade samples. The predictive framework was validated through survival analysis and showed robust prognostic performance. CGM was cross-referenced with existing genomic tests and demonstrated the competitive predictive power of tumour risk. Conclusions CGM is able to classify tumours into better-defined prognostic categories without employing information on tumour size, stage, or subgroups. The model offers means to improve prognosis and support the clinical decision and precision treatments, thereby potentially contributing to preventing underdiagnosis of high-risk tumours and minimising over-treatment of low-risk disease.

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SLC6A8-mediated intracellular creatine accumulation enhances hypoxic breast cancer cell survival via ameliorating oxidative stress

Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research ◽

10.1186/s13046-021-01933-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Qiao Li ◽

Manran Liu ◽

Yan Sun ◽

Ting Jin ◽

Pengpeng Zhu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Overall Survival ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Histological Grade ◽

Metabolic Adaptation ◽

Mitochondrial Activity ◽

Cell Viability Assay ◽

Ki 67 ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer, with poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Hypoxia is a key hallmark of TNBC. Metabolic adaptation promotes progression of TNBC cells that are located within the hypoxic tumor regions. However, it is not well understood regarding the precise molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of metabolic adaptions by hypoxia. Methods RNA sequencing was performed to analyze the gene expression profiles in MDA-MB-231 cell line (20% O2 and 1% O2). Expressions of Slc6a8, which encodes the creatine transporter protein, were detected in breast cancer cells and tissues by quantitative real-time PCR. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect SLC6A8 protein abundances in tumor tissues. Clinicopathologic correlation and overall survival were evaluated by chi-square test and Kaplan-Meier analysis, respectively. Cell viability assay and flow cytometry analysis with Annexin V/PI double staining were performed to investigate the impact of SLC6A8-mediated uptake of creatine on viability of hypoxic TNBC cells. TNBC orthotopic mouse model was used to evaluate the effects of creatine in vivo. Results SLC6A8 was aberrantly upregulated in TNBC cells in hypoxia. SLC6A8 was drastically overexpressed in TNBC tissues and its level was tightly associated with advanced TNM stage, higher histological grade and worse overall survival of TNBC patients. We found that SLC6A8 was transcriptionally upregulated by p65/NF-κB and mediated accumulation of intracellular creatine in hypoxia. SLC6A8-mediated accumulation of creatine promoted survival and suppressed apoptosis via maintaining redox homeostasis in hypoxic TNBC cells. Furthermore, creatine was required to facilitate tumor growth in xenograft mouse models. Mechanistically, intracellular creatine bolstered cell antioxidant defense by reducing mitochondrial activity and oxygen consumption rates to reduce accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species, ultimately activating AKT-ERK signaling, the activation of which protected the viability of hypoxic TNBC cells via mediating the upregulation of Ki-67 and Bcl-2, and the downregulation of Bax and cleaved Caspase-3. Conclusions Our study indicates that SLC6A8-mediated creatine accumulation plays an important role in promoting TNBC progression, and may provide a potential therapeutic strategy option for treatment of SLC6A8 high expressed TNBC.

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A STUDY ON HORMONE RECEPTOR STATUS IN BREAST CANCER IN RELATION TO HISTOLOGICAL GRADING, AGE AND LYMPH NODE INVOLVEMENT

10.36106/ijar/1601400 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 41-44

Author(s):

R. Rani Suganya ◽

M. Annapoorani ◽

C. Naveen Kumar

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Lymph Node ◽

Hormone Receptor ◽

Histological Grade ◽

Systemic Disease ◽

Lymph Node Involvement ◽

Hormone Receptor Status ◽

Major Health Problem ◽

Receptor Status ◽

Node Involvement

Breast cancer is the major health problem for the women throughout the world.Management of breast cancer has evolved to include both surgery for local disease and medical therapy for systemic disease. Multiple treatment options are available depending on various factors such as histological grade, hormone receptor status etc. The aim of this study is to correlate the hormone receptor status with prognostic factors such as lymph node involvement, tumour grading and age among patients diagnosed with breast cancer in our institution. The results of this study serve to prognosticate the severity of disease among various strata of patients.

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The Value of Ultrasound Diagnosed Axillary Lymph Node in Avoiding Axillary Surgery in Early Breast Cancer Patients

10.21203/rs.3.rs-81453/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Na Liu ◽

Liu Yang ◽

Xinle Wang ◽

Meiqi Wang ◽

Ruoyang Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Lymph Node ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Axillary Lymph Node ◽

Histological Grade ◽

False Negative ◽

Axillary Lymph ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Ki 67 ◽

Axillary Surgery

Abstract Background: Axillary lymph node dissection can be avoided in early stage breast cancer patients with negative sentinel lymph node biopsy. However, the possibility of avoiding axillary surgery in patients without axillary lymph node metastasis (ALNM) by preoperative imaging is still under exploration. Thus, the objectives of this study were to investigate the high-risk factors of false negative of ALNM diagnosed by preoperative ultrasound (US) and to find out who could be avoided axillary surgery in the US negative ALNM patients.Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 3,361 patients with primary early breast cancer diagnosed in the Breast Center of the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2010 to December 2012. All patients had undergone routine preoperative US and then axillary lymph node dissected. This study investigated the clinicopathological features of axillary lymph node (ALN) negative patients diagnosed by preoperative US and its correlation with prognosis. The follow-up data for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were obtained from 2,357 patients. Results: The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of axillary US in this cohort were 66.24%, 76.62% and 73.87%. The proportion of patients in the false negative group was higher than that in true negative in the group of age < 50 years old (P = 0.002), tumor size > 2cm (P = 0.008), estrogen receptor (ER) positive (P = 0.005), progesterone receptor (PR) high expression (P = 0.007), nuclear-associated antigen Ki-67 (Ki-67) >20% (P = 0.030), visible vascular tumor thrombus (P < 0.001) and histological grade>2 (P < 0.001). Prognostic analysis of false negative and true negative ultrasonographic diagnosis of ALN metastasis: when ALNM was not found by preoperative ultrasound, there was no significant difference in patients with ALNM≤3 compared with patients without lymph node metastasis in patients of age ≥ 50 years old, tumor size ≤ 2cm, Ki-67 ≤ 20%, or histological grade ≤ 2. Conclusion: The surgery of ALN may be avoided for the preoperative US diagnosed ALNs negative in early breast cancer patients who had advanced age, small tumor size, low expression of Ki-67 and low histological grade.

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Low KIBRA Expression Is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Patients with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Medicina ◽

10.3390/medicina57080837 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 (8) ◽

pp. 837

Author(s):

So-Woon Kim ◽

Jinah Chu ◽

Sung-Im Do ◽

Kiyong Na

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽

Poor Prognosis ◽

Triple Negative ◽

Histological Grade ◽

Growth Factor Receptor ◽

Hippo Signaling ◽

Luminal A ◽

Luminal B ◽

Epidermal Growth

Background and Objectives: Kidney and brain protein (KIBRA) is a protein encoded by the WW and C2 domain containing 1 (WWC1) gene and is involved in the Hippo signaling pathway. Recent studies have revealed the prognostic value of KIBRA expression; however, its role in breast cancer remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine KIBRA expression in relation to the clinical and pathological characteristics of patients with breast cancer and to disease outcomes. Materials and Methods: We analyzed the expression of KIBRA and its correlation with event-free survival (EFS) outcomes in resected samples from 486 patients with breast cancer. Results: KIBRA expression was significantly different among the molecular subgroups (low KIBRA expression: luminal A, 46.7% versus 50.0%, p = 0.641; luminal B, 32.7% versus 71.7%, p < 0.001; human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-enriched, 64.9% versus 45.5%. p = 0.001; triple-negative, 73.6% versus 43.8%, p < 0.001). Low KIBRA expression was also associated with high nuclear grade (60.4% versus 37.8%, p < 0.001), high histologic grade (58.7% versus 37.0%, p < 0.001), and estrogen receptor (ER) negativity (54.2% versus 23.6%, p < 0.001). Low KIBRA expression was significantly associated with poor EFS (p = 0.041; hazard ratio (HR) 1.658; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.015–2.709). Low KIBRA expression was an independent indicator of poor prognosis (p = 0.001; HR = 3.952; 95% CI = 1.542–10.133) in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Conclusion: Low KIBRA expression was associated with higher histological grade, ER negativity and poor EFS of breast cancer. In particular, our data highlight KIBRA expression status as a potential prognostic marker for TNBC.

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Efficacy Of Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin-based Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy In Breast Cancer: A Single Center Experience

Clinical & Investigative Medicine ◽

10.25011/cim.v44i1.35196 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 44 (1) ◽

pp. E7-14

Author(s):

I-Chen Tsai ◽

Chih-Chiang Hung Hung

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy ◽

Recurrence Rate ◽

Liposomal Doxorubicin ◽

Histological Grade ◽

Therapeutic Option ◽

Pathologic Complete Response ◽

Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin ◽

Operable Breast Cancer ◽

Breast Cancer Patients

Purpose: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy using a doxorubicin-based regimen has recently become a common therapeutic option for operable breast cancer. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of polyethylene glycol-coated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD)-based chemotherapy for breast cancer in neoadjuvant settings. Methods: A total of 227 female operable breast cancer patients who were diagnosed between January 2009 and December 2017 and completed neoadjuvant PLD-based chemotherapy were retrospectively included. The logistic regression analysis was used to determine the associations between pathologic complete response (pCR) and preoperative clinicopathological characteristics. The breast cancer recurrence rate was estimated using the survival analysis. Results: A higher pCR rate was found in the patients with clinically negative lymph nodes and HER2-enriched patients. Moreover, the patients who achieved pCR also had a better prognosis outcome. A recurrence rate of 11.5% (n=26) was observed during a median follow-up of 11.63 months, and the recurrence rate of the pCR group (2.04%; 95% CI = 0.29-13.62) was lower than the non-pCR group (14.62%; 95% CI = 10.12-20.87). Higher histological grade was also associated high pCR rate (52.0% vs 40.0%). Conclusion: The use of PLD-containing chemotherapeutics in neoadjuvant settings might have benefits for non-metastatic operable breast cancer in Taiwanese females.

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Immunohistochemical analysis of CD155 expression in triple-negative breast cancer patients

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0253176 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (6) ◽

pp. e0253176

Author(s):

Katsuhiro Yoshikawa ◽

Mitsuaki Ishida ◽

Hirotsugu Yanai ◽

Koji Tsuta ◽

Mitsugu Sekimoto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Overall Survival ◽

Tumor Cells ◽

Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽

Triple Negative ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Histological Grade ◽

Relapse Free Survival ◽

Free Survival ◽

Antitumor Immunotherapy

Introduction CD155 is an immune checkpoint protein. Its overexpression is an indicator of poor prognosis in some types of cancer. However, the significance of CD155 expression in patients with triple-negative breast cancer, and the relationship between CD155 and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, have not yet been analyzed in detail. Methods Using immunohistochemical staining and tissue microarrays, we analyzed the expression profiles of CD155 and PD-L1 in 61 patients with triple-negative breast cancer. Relapse-free survival and overall survival rates were compared according to CD155 expression. The correlation between CD155 expression and clinicopathological factors, including PD-L1 expression (using SP142 and 73–10 assays), was also examined. Results CD155 expression was noted in 25 patients (41.0%) in this cohort. CD155 expression did not correlate with pathological stage, histological grade, Ki-67 labeling index, or stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Only PD-L1 expression in tumor cells by SP142 assay significantly correlated with CD155 expression (p = 0.035); however, PD-L1 expression in tumor cells by 73–10 assay did not show a correlation (p = 0.115). Using the 73–10 assay, 59% of patients showed CD155 and/or PD-L1 expression in tumor cells. Moreover, using the SP142 assay, 63.3% of patients showed CD155 and/or PD-L1 expression in immune cells. CD155 expression did not correlate with either relapse-free survival or overall survival (p = 0.485 and 0.843, respectively). Conclusions CD155 may be a novel target for antitumor immunotherapy. The results of this study indicate that CD155 may expand the pool of candidates with triple-negative breast cancer who could benefit from antitumor immunotherapy.

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