Abstract
Various studies have evaluated the significance of Notch1 expression in breast cancer, but the results have ever been disputed. By using 21 studies involving 3867 patients, this meta-analysis revealed that the expression of Notch1 was significantly higher in breast cancer than in normal tissues (OR=7.21; 95%CI, 4.7-11.07) and that higher Notch1 expression was associated with transition from ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) to invasive cancer (OR=3.75; 95% CI, 1.8-7.78). Higher Notch1 activity was observed in the basal subtype of breast cancer (OR=2.53; 95% CI, 1.18-5.43). Moreover, patients with Notch1 overexpression exhibited significantly worse overall and recurrence-free survival. Our meta-analysis suggests that Notch inhibitors may be useful in blocking the early progression of DCIS and that the outcomes of clinical trials for Notch1-targeting therapeutics could be improved by the molecular stratification of breast cancer patients.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the most common female cancer and represents 28.7% of all cancers diagnosed in woman [1]
It is generally believed that Notch1 can be used as a progressive biomarker for breast cancer [25,26,27,28,29]
Measuring the prognostic value of Notch1 may help to guide individual therapies for breast cancer patients. This meta-analysis suggested a predictive value of Notch1 expression in breast cancer patients
Summary
Breast cancer is the most common female cancer and represents 28.7% of all cancers diagnosed in woman [1]. With many advancements achieved in breast cancer biology and in diagnosis and treatment, the 5-year survival rates for local or regional breast cancer have increased to more than 85%. The majority of breast cancer patients with distant metastasis succumb to cancer progression within 5 years[1]. A host of facts indicate that Notch pathway plays key roles in cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. The role of Notch pathway in cancer was first revealed in T cell leukemia and breast cancer [2, 3]. Our study indicated that higher expression of Notch signaling was associated with greater possibility of lymph node metastasis (LNM), higher TNM stages and poor survival of NSCLC patients [4]. The function that Notch signaling drives stemness and tumorigenicity was PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0131689 June 29, 2015
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