Abstract 145: Finding correlations between CtBP expression and breast cancer risk factors.

Abstract

Abstract In women, breast cancer is ranked second in cancer deaths; almost 40,000 deaths are expected and over 225,000 new cases are expected. Research has shown that breast cancer prevalence and mortality are influenced by various factors including race and lifestyle. Studies have indicated racial disparity whereby young women of African descent have higher breast cancer mortality rate and this could be partly explained by higher occurrence of more aggressive breast cancer forms that exhibit characteristics of epigenetically re-programmed reactivation of embryonic processes that promote tumor invasion, spread and resistance to chemotherapy. These are features common to certain breast cancer subtypes including basal-like and triple negative breast cancers, which occur more frequently in younger African American women. We are focusing on epigenetic factors that explain this disparity as this understanding will help provide population-based approach to detecting and treating breast cancer. C-terminal Binding Protein (CtBP) is a family of epigenetic regulators that undergoes dimerization which is stimulated and stabilized by NADH, a product of metabolism. CtBP has been shown to induce epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), an embryonic program that increases tumor invasion and metastasis; we therefore hypothesize that CtBP likely plays a role in tumor progression. Research from our lab has shown an elevated level of CtBP present in the nuclei of more clinically aggressive breast cancer subtypes.. To find the correlation between CtBP expression and other patient factors such as race, age, BMI and hormone receptor status we have begun to screen several breast cancer patient cohorts obtained from larger minority serving medical centers around the country. Our preliminary findings reveal that elevated levels of CtBP expression in patient tumor samples shows a statistically significant correlation with shortened median survival. Moreover, random sampling of a small population of these cohorts suggests that the correlation between CtBP and poor clinical outcome is greater in women of African heritage compared to European descent. How epithelial features and stromal attributes of the tissue microenvironment contribute to this correlation is currently under investigation. Citation Format: Mofiyinfoluwa A. Obadina. Finding correlations between CtBP expression and breast cancer risk factors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 145. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-145