Objective To systematically evaluate expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and analyze its correlation between positive expression of VEGF protein and clinicopathologic features of patient with TNBC. Methods The published literatures relevant VEGF protein expression in TNBC and its relation to clinicopathologic features of patient with TNBC in China were retrieved by means of CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, China Biomedical, Chaoxing Medalink, PubMed databases, and other search tools. The literatures were independently filtered, extracted, and assessed by two reviewers according to the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria. The meta-analysis was conducted by using RevMan 5.3 software. Results A total of 11 literatures were included and involved 1 838 patients (750 patients in the TNBC group and 1 088 patients in the non-TNBC group). The results of meta-nalysis showed that the positive expression of VEGF protein in the TNBC group was significantly higher than that in the non-TNBC group 〔OR=2.64, 95%CI (2.14, 3.26), P<0.000 01〕 , which was significantly increased in the TNBC patients with positive lymph node or stage Ⅲ–Ⅳ as compared with the negative lymph node or stage Ⅰ–Ⅱ 〔OR=0.30, 95% CI (0.14, 0.46), P=0.000 2; OR=0.43, 95% CI (0.29, 0.62), P<0.000 01〕 . However, the positive expression of VEGF protein was no associated with the age of patients with TNBC or tumor size (P>0.05). Conclusions VEGF highly expresses in TNBC and it is expected to be a new therapeutic target. Positive expression of VEGF protein is related to positive lymph node and late TNM stage, and it might be associated with prognosis of patient with TNBC.
Objective To investigate relationship between androgen receptor (AR) and clinicopathologic features of patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) in Xinjiang. Methods The clinical data of Han and Uygur patients with TNBC from the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from December 2012 to December 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. And the expression of the AR and the clinicopathologic features of the patients with TNBC were extracted. The results were analyzed by SPSS 19.0. Results A total of 178 patients with TNBC were included, including 127 Han and 51 Uygur patients. The positive rate of the AR expression in the 178 patients with TNBC was 21.3% (38/178), which was significantly related to the expression of Ki-67 (χ2=15.196, P<0.001), was not related to the ethnicity (χ2=0.203, P=0.688), age (χ2=0.221, P=0.715), tumor size (χ2=0.047, P=0.855), lymph node status (χ2=0.874, P=0.354), or histological grade (χ2=0.001, P=1.000). And there were no statistically significant differences in the clinicopathologic features between the Han patients with TNBC and the Uygur patients with TNBC. Conclusion AR positive expression is related to Ki-67, but clinicopathologic features have no significant differences between Han and Uygur patients with TNBC in Xingjinag.
ObjectiveTo understand current research progress of microRNA (miRNA) in pathogenesis of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), and to provide reference for understanding pathogenesis and treatment of TNBC.MethodTheresearch progress of relationship of TNBC and miRNA was reviewed by reading relevant literatures at home and abroad in recent years.ResultsThe miRNAs were involved in a variety of biological processes, including the cell proliferation, apoptosis, autophagy, differentiation, metastasis, etc., and played an important role in the cancer initiation and metastasis. Therefore, researchers had attempted to treat and prevent the TNBC by targeting miRNAs. At present, there had been a large number of reports that the miRNAs played a key role in TNBC, which were classified as the anti-oncogene and oncogene, and was associated with metastasis and prognosis of TNBC.ConclusionmiRNA is very important in pathogenesis of TNBC. Mechanism of studying miRNA is necessary for treatment and prevention of TNBC.
ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between the expression of IL-8 protein in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and clinicopathological features and survival prognosis.MethodsThe expression of IL-8 protein in 80 cases of TNBC was detected by immunohistochemical staining, and the relationship between the expression of IL-8 protein and clinicopathological features and prognosis of TNBC patients was analyzed by χ2 test, log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazards regression.ResultsIn 80 TNBC patients, the high expression of IL-8 protein accounted for 22.5% (18/80). The expression level of IL-8 protein in TNBC tumor tissue was correlated with T stage, clinical stage, Ki-67 expression, WHO grade and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). However, it was not related to age, menopausal status, pathological type of tumor and whether they had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P>0.05). The results of log-rank analysis showed that the disease-free survival rate (DFS) of high expression group of IL-8 protein was poor than that of low expression group of IL-8 protein (P<0.05). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that the expression of IL-8 protein was an independent factor affecting the survival and prognosis of TNBC patients [HR=1.180, 95%CI (1.001, 1.391), P=0.049]. The prognosis of TNBC patients with high expression of IL-8 protein was poor.ConclusionThe expression level of IL-8 protein is an independent risk factor affecting the survival and prognosis of patients with TNBC.
Oncogene StarD4 had the function of promoting proliferation and metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), but its clinical value and molecular mechanism are unknown. This paper found that StarD4 was highly expressed in cancer tissues of TNBC patients, and higher expression level of StarD4 in TNBC patient resulted in poorer prognosis. Based on transcriptomics of MDA-MB-231 cell model, the results of bioinformatics analysis showed that down-regulated expression level of StarD4 led to overall downregulation of cholesterol-relative genes and significant enrichment of cancer mechanism and pathway. Further analysis and investigation verified that StarD4 might cross-promote the protein stability of receptor ITGA5 through the cholesterol pathway to enhance TNBC progression, which provides guidance for clinical application of TNBC diagnosis and treatment.
ObjectiveTo summarize the research progress of Hippo signaling pathway in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). MethodLiteratures about studies the role of Hippo signaling pathway in cancer stem cells, epithelial-mesenchymal transformation, tumorigenesis and development, distant metastasis, treatment resistance, and treatment strategies were retrieved. ResultsIn TNBC, overexpression of Yes-associated protein and PDZ-binding motif could promote the development of tumor stem cells, induce epithelial-mesenchymal transformation of TNBC cells, and promote tumor development, distant metastasis, and chemotherapy resistance. ConclusionHippo/Yes-associated protein axis plays an important role in carcinogenesis and progression of TNBC, and targeting Hippo signaling pathway might be a potential therapeutic target for TNBC.
Breast cancer is a malignancy with the highest incidence and mortality rate among women in the world. The current treatment methods include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, endocrine therapy and targeted therapy. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) has high manignant behavior and poor prognosis, lacks specific treatment targets, thus resulting in few effective treatment modalities. The emergence of immunotherapy has provided hopes for TNBC. The efficacy of immunocheckpoint inhibitors in neoadjuvant treatment of early TNBC and first-line treatment of programmed death-ligand 1 positive metastatic TNBC. Therefore, this article reviews the researches of immunocheckpoint inhibitors in the treatment of early and advanced breast cancer.