PTEN and PARP1 expression as predictors of neoadjuvant chemotherapy response in breast cancer: A case-control study

Abstract

Background: Most breast cancer patients in developing countries present at an advanced stage and require neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) before mastectomy. Chemotherapy in breast cancer generally kills cancer cells via apoptotic mechanisms, and chemotherapy response could be predicted by assessing biological markers associated with apoptosis, including phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN) and Poly-ADP-ribose polymerase 1 (PARP1). Objective: This study investigated the correlation between PTEN and PARP1 expression and NACT response in breast carcinomaMethods: Breast carcinoma patients who received NACT in 2017-2018 were consecutively selected, consist of 22 patients with positive NACT response and 22 patients with negative NACT response. Immunohistochemical examination of PTEN and PARP1 was carried out, and their expression was categorized with high and low PTEN expression and high and low PARP1 expression. Statistical analysis using chi-square test was performed to assess the relationship between clinicopathological characteristics, PTEN expression, PARP1 expression, and response to NACT. The significance test was determined at p <0.05.Results: There was a significant relationship between tumor size (p=0.030) and PTEN expression (p=0.035) with the response to NACT in breast carcinoma. Low PTEN expression had a risk of negative clinical response to NACT by 3.754 times compared to breast cancer with high PTEN expression. Meanwhile, there was no significant relationship between PARP1 expression and response to NACT in breast carcinoma.