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Vimentin as a poor prognostic factor for triple-negative breast cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), characterized by the absence of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, is a highly heterogeneous disease. Recent studies suggest that there are links between TNBC and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). To identify prognostic biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets, vimentin, one of the most major factors associated with EMT was investigated in TNBC.

Materials and methods

Sporadic invasive ductal carcinoma specimens were obtained from 659 Japanese patients, and 90 (14 %) cases were diagnosed as TNBC. The vimentin mRNA and protein expression levels were evaluated by quantitative reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry.

Results

The mRNA expression of vimentin was significantly upregulated in the basal-type breast cancer cell line. Immunohistochemically, the vimentin expression was significantly higher (p = 0.0042) in TNBC compared with the other subtypes. Vimentin expression was associated with a younger age (p = 0.016), high nuclear grade (p = 0.023) and high Ki67 expression (p < 0.0001), and a poorer prognosis in terms of both the recurrence-free survival (RFS) (p = 0.0058) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.013) in TNBC patients. A multivariate analysis showed that vimentin expression was an independent prognostic factor for the RFS (p = 0.043). Vimentin expression was also associated with a significantly shorter RFS (p = 0.021) and OS (p = 0.017) in patients with basal-like breast cancer (BLBC).

Conclusions

The elevated expression of vimentin contributes to the aggressive phenotype and poor prognosis in TNBC. Vimentin expression might be useful as a biomarker for the prognosis of TNBC.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Mrs. Naoko Katakura, Mrs. Mariko Shimokawa, and Ms. Yuko Kubota for their valuable technical assistance and Mrs. Satoko Hamatake for her excellent secretarial assistance.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582, Japan

    Nami Yamashita, Eriko Tokunaga, Yuichi Hisamatsu, Kenji Taketani, Sayuri Akiyoshi, Satoko Okada, Masaru Morita & Yoshihiko Maehara

  2. Department of Molecular Oncology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, Japan

    Hiroyuki Kitao

  3. Department of Anatomic Pathology, Pathological Sciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, Japan

    Shinichi Aishima

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  1. Nami Yamashita
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Correspondence to Eriko Tokunaga.

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Yamashita, N., Tokunaga, E., Kitao, H. et al. Vimentin as a poor prognostic factor for triple-negative breast cancer. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 139, 739–746 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-013-1376-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-013-1376-6

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