Gene expression profiling of primary male breast cancers reveals two unique subgroups and identifies N-acetyltransferase-1 (NAT1) as a novel prognostic biomarker.

INTRODUCTION: Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare and inadequately characterized disease. The aim of the present study was to characterize MBC tumors transcriptionally, to classify them into comprehensive subgroups, and to compare them with female breast cancer (FBC). METHODS: A total of 66 clinicopathologically well-annotated fresh frozen MBC tumors were analyzed using Illumina Human HT-12 bead arrays, and a tissue microarray with 220 MBC tumors was constructed for validation using immunohistochemistry. Two external gene expression datasets were used for comparison purposes: 37 MBCs and 359 FBCs. RESULTS: Using an unsupervised approach, we classified the MBC tumors into two subgroups, luminal M1 and luminal M2, respectively, with differences in tumor biological features and outcome, and which differed from the intrinsic subgroups described in FBC. The two subgroups were recapitulated in the external MBC dataset. Luminal M2 tumors were characterized by high expression of immune response genes and genes associated with estrogen receptor (ER) signaling. Luminal M1 tumors, on the other hand, despite being ER positive by immunohistochemistry showed a lower correlation to genes associated with ER signaling and displayed a more aggressive phenotype and worse prognosis. Validation of two of the most differentially expressed genes, class 1 human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and the metabolizing gene N-acetyltransferase-1 (NAT1), respectively, revealed significantly better survival associated with high expression of both markers (HLA, hazard ratio (HR) 3.6, P = 0.002; NAT1, HR 2.5, P = 0.033). Importantly, NAT1 remained significant in a multivariate analysis (HR 2.8, P = 0.040) and may thus be a novel prognostic marker in MBC. CONCLUSIONS: We have detected two unique and stable subgroups of MBC with differences in tumor biological features and outcome. They differ from the widely acknowledged intrinsic subgroups of FBC. As such, they may constitute two novel subgroups of breast cancer, occurring exclusively in men, and which may consequently require novel treatment approaches. Finally, we identified NAT1 as a possible prognostic biomarker for MBC, as suggested by NAT1 positivity corresponding to better outcome.

pRb2/p130 protein in relation to clinicopathological and biological variables in rectal cancers with a clinical trial of preoperative radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND: pRb2/p130 plays a key role in cell proliferation and is a considerable progress about expression patterns of pRb2/p130 in number of malignancies. However, pRb2/p130 expression and its significance in rectal cancer remain unknown. The purpose of the present study was to investigate pRb2/p130 protein patterns and their correlations with clinicopathological and biological factors in rectal cancer patients with or without preoperative radiotherapy (RT). PATIENT/METHODS: pRb2/p130 protein was examined by immunohistochemistry in 130 primary tumors, along with the corresponding 61 distant normal mucosa specimens, 85 adjacent normal mucosa specimens, 34 lymph node metastases, and 93 primary tumor biopsies from rectal cancer patients who participated in a Swedish clinical trial of preoperative RT. RESULTS: The pRb2/p130 protein was mainly localized in the cytoplasm of tumor cells. In nonradiated cases, the lack of pRb2/p130 was related to advanced tumor-node-metastases stage, poorer differentiation, weak fibrosis, less inflammatory infiltration, higher Ki-67, and positive Cox-2 expression (p < 0.05). In radiated cases, the lack of pRb2/p130 was related to nonstaining of Cox-2 and survivin (p < 0.05). pRb2/p130 protein in primary tumors tended to be increased after RT (27% vs 16%, p = 0.07). CONCLUSION: pRb2/p130 was mainly localized in the cytoplasm rather than in the nucleus in rectal cancer. After RT, pRb2/p130 protein seems to be increased in primary tumors, and further the relationship of the pRb2/p130 with the clinicopathological and biological variables changed compared to the nonradiated cases. However, we did not find that the pRb2/p130 was directly related to RT, tumor recurrence, and patients' survival.