Abstract
BackgroundBreast cancer is the most common malignancy with the highest incidence rates among women worldwide. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents the major phenotype of basal-like molecular subtype of breast cancer, characterized by higher incidence in young women and a very poor prognosis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs playing significant role in the pathogenesis of many cancers including breast cancer. Therefore, miRNAs are also potential prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers in triple-negative breast cancer patients.MethodsThirty-nine TNBC patients with available formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues were enrolled in the study. MiR-34a, miR-34b, and miR-34c were analyzed using qRT-PCR and correlated to clinico-pathological features of TNBC patients.ResultsExpression levels of miR-34b significantly correlate with disease free survival (DFS) (p = 0.0020, log-rank test) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.0008, log-rank test) of TNBC patients. No other significant associations between miR-34a, miR-34b, and miR-34c with available clinical pathological data were observed.ConclusionsMiR-34b expression negatively correlates with disease free survival and overall survival in TNBC patients. Thus, miR-34b may present a new promising prognostic biomarker in TNBC patients, but independent validations are necessary.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy with the highest incidence rates among women worldwide
Survival analysis performed on the cohort of 39 Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients showed that expression of miR-34b in tumors significantly correlates with a disease free survival (DFS) (P = 0.0020, log-rank test) (Figure 1a) and an overall survival (OS) (P = 0.0008, log-rank test) (Figure 1b) of TNBC patients
Neither correlations with OS nor DFS were observed in the cases of miR-34a and miR-34c
Summary
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy with the highest incidence rates among women worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs playing significant role in the pathogenesis of many cancers including breast cancer. It is a heterogeneous disease due to complicated etiology involving both genetic and environmental factors This malignity comprises multiple entities associated with distinctive histological and biological features, clinical presentations and behaviours and responses to therapy. Recent studies showed that miRNAs regulate a significant number of oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and genes associated with the invasion, dissemination, and chemoresistance of tumors. These molecules play significant roles in the pathogenesis of many cancers, including the breast cancer and its triple-negative subtype [8,9]. The aim of this study was to quantify expression levels of miR-34a, miR-34b, and miR-34c in the clinical samples of TNBC, and to evaluate their association with clinical- pathological features to identify new prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers for TNBC patients
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