Abstract 2251: Tumor tissue gene expression in association with survival of triple-negative breast cancer

Abstract

Abstract Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive type of cancer with limited treatment options. Previous studies have shown that gene expression profiles were associated with TNBC prognosis. Information on specific genes that are predictive of TNBC outcome is limited. Using data and samples from a cohort of 469 TNBC cases from Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study (SBCSS), we systematically evaluated expressions of 302 genes in tumor tissue with survival of TNBC. Genes included in the study are PAM50 genes, genes encoding drug metabolizing enzymes and, genes implicated in TNBC biology and progression based on literature reviews. Gene expression levels were measured in total RNA isolated from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissues using the NanoString nCounter assay. Cox regression was applied to evaluate disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in association with gene expression. Analysis was adjusted for known predictors of TNBC outcome, including age, disease stage, basal like subtype and DUSP4 gene expression. During a median follow-up of 5.3 years (range: 0.7-8.9 years), 100 deaths and 92 recurrences/breast cancer deaths were documented. Expression levels of 17 genes were significantly associated with OS, and 15 genes with DFS (P<0.05). The top 5 most significant genes are EOMES (Hazard Ratio, HR = 0.88; 95% Confidence Interval, 95% CI: 0.82-0.96), GZMK (HR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.85-0.97), TUBB3 (HR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.03-1.21), SIT1 (HR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.83-0.98) and ZNF224 (HR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.81-0.97) for OS, and TUBB3 (HR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.05-1.24), KRT14 (HR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.02-1.14), BAG1 (HR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.05-1.35), CD44 (HR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.58-0.92) and EOMES (HR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.82-0.97) for DFS. Study is on-going to replicate the findings of this study. Citation Format: Shuyang Wang, Qiuyin Cai, Hui Cai, Pingping Bao, Jie Wu, Fei Ye, Wei Zheng, Ying Zheng, Xiao-Ou Shu. Tumor tissue gene expression in association with survival of triple-negative breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2251. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2251