Project description:Estrogen receptor (ER) expression and proliferative activity are established prognostic factors in breast cancer. In a search for additional prognostic motives we analyzed the gene expression patterns of 200 tumors of patients who were not treated by systemic therapy after surgery using a discovery approach. After performing hierarchical cluster analysis, we identified co-regulated genes related to the biological process of proliferation, steroid hormone receptor expression, as well as B cell and T cell infiltration. We calculated metagenes as surrogate for all genes contained within a particular cluster and visualized the relative expression in relation to time to metastasis with principal component analysis. Distinct patterns led to the hypothesis of a prognostic role of the immune system in tumors with high expression of proliferation associated genes. In multivariate Cox regression analysis the proliferation metagene showed a significant association with metastasis-free survival of the whole discovery cohort (Hazard Ratio (HR) 2.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.40-3.46). The B cell metagene showed additional independent prognostic information in carcinomas with high proliferative activity (HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.46 - 0.97). A prognostic influence of the B-cell metagene was independently confirmed by multivariate analysis in a first validation cohort enriched for high grade tumors (n=286, HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.62-0.98), and a second validation cohort enriched for younger patients (n=302, HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.7-0.97). Thus, we could demonstrate in three cohorts of untreated node-negative breast cancer patients, that the humoral immune system plays a pivotal role for metastasis-free survival of carcinomas of the breast. Experiment Overall Design: Population based N0 untreated breast cancer cohort study including 200 samples
Project description:Estrogen receptor (ER) expression and proliferative activity are established prognostic factors in breast cancer. In a search for additional prognostic motives we analyzed the gene expression patterns of 200 tumors of patients who were not treated by systemic therapy after surgery using a discovery approach. After performing hierarchical cluster analysis, we identified co-regulated genes related to the biological process of proliferation, steroid hormone receptor expression, as well as B cell and T cell infiltration. We calculated metagenes as surrogate for all genes contained within a particular cluster and visualized the relative expression in relation to time to metastasis with principal component analysis. Distinct patterns led to the hypothesis of a prognostic role of the immune system in tumors with high expression of proliferation associated genes. In multivariate Cox regression analysis the proliferation metagene showed a significant association with metastasis-free survival of the whole discovery cohort (Hazard Ratio (HR) 2.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.40-3.46). The B cell metagene showed additional independent prognostic information in carcinomas with high proliferative activity (HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.46 - 0.97). A prognostic influence of the B-cell metagene was independently confirmed by multivariate analysis in a first validation cohort enriched for high grade tumors (n=286, HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.62-0.98), and a second validation cohort enriched for younger patients (n=302, HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.7-0.97). Thus, we could demonstrate in three cohorts of untreated node-negative breast cancer patients, that the humoral immune system plays a pivotal role for metastasis-free survival of carcinomas of the breast. Keywords: disease state analysis
Project description:We identified and validated the pivotal role for a metagene containing IFN-induced genes in association to higher metastatic potential as a function of the specific molecular subtype Fresh frozen primary tumors were collected at the time of diagnosis from 123 patients with operable breast cancer previously untreated and undergoing radical or conservative surgery at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milano (INTM) between1990 and 1998. All patients were pathologically defined as axillary node negative and were not submitted to any type of adjuvant systemic treatment until relapse. Patients were selected in order to have a comparable pattern of classical risk factors (age, tumor size).
Project description:Interferons are crucial for adaptive immunity and play an important role in the immune landscape of breast cancer. Using microarray-based gene expression analysis, we examined the subtype specific prognostic significance of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) as a single gene as well as an IFN-γ signature covering the signaling pathway in 461 breast cancer patients. Prognostic significance of IFN-γ as well as the IFN-γ signature for metastasis-free survival (MFS) were examined using Kaplan Meier as well as univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses in the whole cohort and in different molecular subtypes. Kaplan Meier curves and univariate Cox regression analyses showed that the prognostic significance of IFN-γ as a single gene was limited to basal-like breast cancer (P=0.033). In contrast, the IFN-γ associated gene signature was a significant prognostic factor in the whole cohort (HR 1.554; 95%CI 1.1099-2.199; P=0.013) as well as in the luminal B (P=0.007) and HER2-positive (P=0.033) molecular subtype with borderline significance in basal-like breast cancer(P=0.050). In multivariate analysis, the IFN-γ signature retained its independent prognostic significance (HR 2.287; 95% CI: 1.410-3.633;P<0.001) in the entire cohort. These results underline the subtype-dependent prognostic influence of the immune system in early breast cancer.
Project description:Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive breast cancer subtype and the lack of specific signature makes difficult the development of targeted therapeutic strategy. We previously found that PRICKLE1, an evolutionary conserved protein acting as a regulator of vertebrate development, is upregulated in TNBC. Proteomic approaches allowed us to decipher the protein complex associated to PRICKLE1 in TNBC. Within that complex, we identified a large subset of proteins involved in the regulation of Rho-GTPase family members. We build a metagene with regulators of small G-protein activity and we found that this metagene is overexpressed in TNBC and is a poor prognosis marker. We analyzed the combination of the metagene expression and PRICKLE1 expression and identified that combined expression of ECT2 and PRICKLE1 provides a worst prognosis than PRICKLE1 expression alone in TNBC. ECT2 is a GEF for Rac1 and we showed that PRICKLE1 regulate the enzymatic activity of ECT2. Finally, we also observed that Ect2 and Prickle1 are functionally connected during evolution since both act synergistically to coordinate cellular movement during vertebrate gastrulation. Our results demonstrate the pivotal role of PRICKLE1 in TNBC and build the path for development of targeted therapeutic strategies to heal TNBC patients.
Project description:Breast cancer is the most common malignancy that develops in women, responsible for the highest cancer-associated death rates. Triple negative breast cancers (TNBC) represent an important subtype that have an aggressive clinical phenotype, are associated with a higher likelihood of metastasis and are not responsive to current targeted therapies. miRNAs have emerged as an attractive candidate for molecular biomarkers and treatment targets in breast cancer, but their role in the progression of TNBC remains largely unexplored. This study has investigated miRNA expression profiles in 31 primary TNBC cases and in 13 lymph node metastases compared with 23 matched normal breast tissues to determine miRNAs associated with the initiation of this disease subtype and those associated with its metastasis. 71 miRNAs were differentially expressed in TNBC, the majority of which have previously been associated with breast cancer, including members of the miR-200 family and the miR-17-92 oncogenic cluster, suggesting that miRNAs involved in the initiation of TNBC are not subtype specific. However, the repertoire of miRNAs expressed in lymph node negative and lymph node positive TNBCs were largely distinct from one another. In particular, miRNA profiles associated with lymph node negative disease tended to be up-regulated, while those associated with lymph node positive disease were down-regulated and largely overlapped with the profiles of their matched lymph node metastases. miRNA expression profiles were examined in 31 primary TNBC cases and in 13 lymph node metastases compared with 23 matched normal breast tissues
Project description:Purpose Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive breast cancer subtype with no targeted treatment available. Our previous study identified 38 TNBC-specific genes with altered expression in tumour samples compared to normal samples. This study aimed to identify whether DNA methylation contributed to these gene expression changes in the same breast cancer cohort. Additionally, we aimed to identify a whole genome methylation profile that contributes to the progression from primary breast tumour to lymph node metastasis. Methods We used the DNA of 23 primary TNBC samples, 12 matched lymph node metastases, and 11 matched normal adjacent tissues to perform 450K Illumina methylation arrays. The results were validated in an independent cohort of 70 primary TNBC samples. Results The gene expression of 16/38 TNBC-specific genes was associated with significantly altered methylation. Furthermore, altered methylation of 18 genes associated with lymph node metastasis was identified and validated in an independent cohort. Additionally, novel methylation changes between primary tumours and lymph node metastases, as well as those associated with survival were identified. Conclusion This study has shown that DNA methylation plays an important role in altered gene expression patterns of TNBC-specific genes and is the first study to perform whole genome DNA methylation analysis that includes matched lymph node metastases in this breast cancer subtype. This novel insight into the progression of TNBC to secondary cancers may provide potential prognostic indicators for this hard-to-treat breast cancer subtype. study cohort
Project description:Analyses whether, and if so, gene expression can add prognostic information in the subgroups of patients with tumours with low or high proliferative activity. As proliferation measured with MAI and PPH3 has repeatedly been shown to be the best prognosticator in node-negative breast cancer (high sensitivity, little overtreatment). Total RNA were extracted from 94 lymph node negative breast cancer patients
Project description:Purpose Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive breast cancer subtype with no targeted treatment available. Our previous study identified 38 TNBC-specific genes with altered expression in tumour samples compared to normal samples. This study aimed to identify whether DNA methylation contributed to these gene expression changes in the same breast cancer cohort. Additionally, we aimed to identify a whole genome methylation profile that contributes to the progression from primary breast tumour to lymph node metastasis. Methods We used the DNA of 23 primary TNBC samples, 12 matched lymph node metastases, and 11 matched normal adjacent tissues to perform 450K Illumina methylation arrays. The results were validated in an independent cohort of 70 primary TNBC samples. Results The gene expression of 16/38 TNBC-specific genes was associated with significantly altered methylation. Furthermore, altered methylation of 18 genes associated with lymph node metastasis was identified and validated in an independent cohort. Additionally, novel methylation changes between primary tumours and lymph node metastases, as well as those associated with survival were identified. Conclusion This study has shown that DNA methylation plays an important role in altered gene expression patterns of TNBC-specific genes and is the first study to perform whole genome DNA methylation analysis that includes matched lymph node metastases in this breast cancer subtype. This novel insight into the progression of TNBC to secondary cancers may provide potential prognostic indicators for this hard-to-treat breast cancer subtype. Validation cohort (70 IDC TNBC samples)