Tumour-associated endothelial-FAK correlated with molecular sub-type and prognostic factors in invasive breast cancer.
BMC Cancer
; 14: 237, 2014 Apr 02.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24693876
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease that can be classified into one of 4 main molecular sub-types luminal A, luminal B, Her2 over-expressing and basal-like (BL). These tumour sub-types require different treatments and have different risks of disease progression. BL cancers can be considered a sub-group of Triple negative (TN) cancers since they lack estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR) and Her2 expression. No targeted treatment currently exists for TN/BL cancers. Thus it is important to identify potential therapeutic targets and describe their relationship with established prognostic factors. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is upregulated in several human cancers and also plays a functional role in tumour angiogenesis. However, the association between breast cancer sub-types and tumour endothelial-FAK expression is unknown.METHODS:
Using immunofluorescence, we quantified FAK expression in tumour endothelial and tumour cell compartments in 149 invasive breast carcinomas and correlated expression with clinical, pathological and molecular parameters.RESULTS:
Low endothelial-FAK expression was independently associated with luminal A tumours at univariate (p < 0.001) and multivariate (p = 0.001) analysis. There was a positive correlation between FAK expression in the vascular and tumour cell compartments (Spearman's correlation co-efficient = 0.394, p < 0.001). Additionally, endothelial and tumour cell FAK expression were significantly increased in TN tumours (p = 0.043 and p = 0.033 respectively), in tumours with negative ER and PR status, and in high grade tumours at univariate analysis.CONCLUSION:
Our findings establish a relationship between endothelial-FAK expression levels and the molecular sub-type of invasive breast cancer, and suggest that endothelial-FAK expression is potentially more clinically relevant than tumour cell FAK expression in breast cancer.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Biomarcadores Tumorais
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Proteína-Tirosina Quinases de Adesão Focal
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Neoplasias de Mama Triplo Negativas
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Invasividade Neoplásica
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Female
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Humans
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Cancer
Assunto da revista:
NEOPLASIAS
Ano de publicação:
2014
Tipo de documento:
Article