J Breast Cancer.  2011 Mar;14(1):14-19. 10.4048/jbc.2011.14.1.14.

alphaB-Crystallin is a Novel Oncoprotein Associated with Poor Prognosis in Breast Cancer

• Kim HS
• Lee Y
• Lim YA
• Kang HJ
• Kim LS

• KMID: 2175637
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4048/jbc.2011.14.1.14

Abstract

PURPOSE
alphaB-crystallin, a small heat shock protein, is an anti-apoptotic protein associated with aggressive tumor behavior. A recent study revealed that alphaB-crystallin is overexpressed in a metastatic variant of the GI101A human breast carcinoma cell line. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether alphaB-crystallin is related to other breast tumor markers and can predict a breast cancer prognosis.
METHODS
Eighty-two patients who underwent breast cancer surgery at Hallym Sacred Heart Hospital were enrolled. alphaB-crystallin expression was determined by immunohistochemical staining. Estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor, lymphovascular invasion, histological grade, other tumor markers and time to recurrence were compared with alphaB-crystallin expression.
RESULTS
alphaB-crystallin expression in breast cancer tissues was associated with PR (p=0.030), the number of metastatic lymph nodes (pN) (p=0.020), lymphovascular invasion (p=0.022), histological grade (p=0.004) and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) (p=0.004). alphaB-crystallin expression significantly decreased time to recurrence (p=0.039).
CONCLUSION
The results revealed a strong relationship between alphaB-crystallin and poor prognostic factors such as the number of metastatic lymph nodes (especially pN2), TNBC, and rapid time to recurrence. We believe that alphaB-crystallin could be a novel oncoprotein biomarker of a poor prognosis in breast cancer.

Keyword

alphaB-crystallin; Breast neoplasms; Lymph node metastasis; Triple negative breast cancer

MeSH Terms

Breast
Breast Neoplasms
Cell Line
Estrogens
Heart
Heat-Shock Proteins
Humans
Lymph Nodes
Prognosis
Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor
Receptors, Progesterone
Recurrence
Biomarkers, Tumor
Estrogens
Heat-Shock Proteins
Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor
Receptors, Progesterone

Figure

• 

  Figure 1 αB-crystallin expression scoring. Staining was graded as follows: 0, negative staining; 1, weakly positive staining; 2, moderately positive staining; 3, highly positive staining (Immunohistochemical staining for αB-crystallin, ×100). (A) Score=0, (B) Score=1, (C) Score=2, (D) Score=3.

• 

  Figure 2 αB-crystallin score distributions among patients with lymph node negative and lymph node positive breast cancer. No statistical correlation was found between αB-crystallin score and each group.

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  Figure 3 αB-crystallin expression according to the number of metastatic lymph nodes (pN stage). αB-crystallin expression in breast cancers was expressed more strongly in pN2 than in pN0 and pN1 (p=0.006).

• 

  Figure 4 Time to distant metastasis based on αB-crystallin expression. αB-crystallin expression significantly decreased time to distant metastasis. Statistical significance was found between any type of distant metastasis and αB-crystallin expression (p=0.039).

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