Single Nucleotide Variants in KIF14 Gene May Have Prognostic Value in Breast Cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Human kinesin 14 (KIF14) is one of the 70 prognostic marker genes (so-called Amsterdam profile) previously identified by the microarray of breast carcinomas, and its high transcript expression in tumor specimens indicates a poor prognosis for patients. We performed a pilot study to explore the prognostic and predictive meaning of KIF14 germline genetic variability in breast cancer patients. METHODS: KIF14 coding sequence, including 5' and 3' untranslated regions and overlaps to introns for identification of splicing sites, was analyzed using next-generation sequencing in the testing set of blood DNA samples from 105 breast cancer patients with clinical follow-up. After rigorous evaluation of major allele frequency, haplotype blocks, in silico predicted functional aspects, expression quantitative trait loci, and clinical associations, eight single nucleotide variants were subsequently validated in the evaluation set of 808 patients. RESULTS: Carriers of minor alleles G (rs17448931) or T (rs3806362) had significantly shorter overall survival than wild type homozygotes (p = 0.010 and p = 0.023, respectively) thus successfully replicating the results of the testing set. Both associations remained significant in the multivariate Cox regression analysis, including molecular subtype and stage as covariates (hazard ratio, HR = 1.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.1-2.8 for rs17448931 and HR = 1.9, CI 1.2-3.0 for rs3806362). DISCUSSION: In conclusion, our preliminary data suggest that minor alleles in rs17448931 and rs3806362 of KIF14 represent candidate biomarkers of poor prognosis of breast cancer patients. After pending validation in independent populations and eventual functional characterization, these candidates might become useful biomarkers in the clinics.

Gene expression of cytokinesis regulators PRC1, KIF14 and CIT has no prognostic role in colorectal and pancreatic cancer.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers and pancreatic cancer is among the most fatal and difficult to treat. New prognostic biomarkers are urgently needed to improve the treatment of colorectal and pancreatic cancer. Protein regulating cytokinesis 1 (PRC1), kinesin family member 14 (KIF14) and citron Rho-interacting serine/threonine kinase (CIT) serve important roles in cytokinesis, are strongly associated with cancer progression and have prognostic potential. The present study aimed to investigate the prognostic relevance of the PRC1, KIF14 and CIT genes in colorectal and pancreatic cancer. PRC1, KIF14 and CIT transcript expression was assessed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR in tumors and paired distant unaffected mucosa from 67 patients with colorectal cancer and tumors and paired non-neoplastic control tissues from 48 patients with pancreatic cancer. The extent of transcript dysregulation between tumor and control tissues and between groups of patients divided by main clinical characteristics, namely patients' age and sex, disease stage, localization and grade, was determined. Finally, the associations of transcript levels in tumors with disease-free interval and overall survival time were evaluated. PRC1, KIF14 and CIT transcripts were upregulated in tumors compared with control tissues. PRC1, KIF14 and CIT levels strongly correlated to each other in both colorectal and pancreatic tumor and control tissues after correction for multiple testing. However, no significant associations were found among the transcript levels of PRC1, KIF14 and CIT and disease-free interval or overall survival time. In summary, the present study demonstrated mutual correlation of PRC1, KIF14 and CIT cytokinesis regulators with no clear prognostic value in pancreatic and colorectal cancers. Hence, according to the results of the present study, transcript levels of these genes cannot be clinically exploited as prognostic biomarkers in colorectal or pancreatic cancer patients.