title: Receptor activator for nuclear factor κ B expression predicts poor prognosis in breast cancer patients with bone metastasis but not in patients with visceral metastasis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It was recently reported that receptor activator for nuclear factor κ B ligand (RANKL)/receptor activator for nuclear factor κ B (RANK) pathway is critical for RANK-expressing cancer cells to home to bone and associates with disease progression of cancer. The present study was aimed to evaluate the effect of RANK on prognosis in breast cancer patients with bone metastasis and patients with visceral metastasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Immunohistochemical staining for RANK was carried out on paraffin-embedded primary tumour tissue sections from 102 patients with metastatic breast cancer. Survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards model were used to explore the prognostic value of RANK expression in breast cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The RANK expression rates were 47.1% in metastatic breast cancer. Patients with RANK expression showed significantly poor progression-free survival and disease-specific survival. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that the significant difference in prognosis completely resulted from the occurrence of bone metastasis. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that RANK expression was an independent predictor of bone metastasis-free survival and disease-specific survival in patients with bone metastasis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RANK expression might be an independent predictor of poor prognosis in breast cancer patients with bone metastasis, and RANK expression does not associate with the prognosis in patients with visceral metastasis.
authors: Department of Medical Oncology, The First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors: Lingyun
authors: L
authors: Zhang
authors: Yuee
authors: Y
authors: Teng
authors: Ye
authors: Y
authors: Zhang
authors: Jing
authors: J
authors: Liu
authors: Ling
authors: L
authors: Xu
authors: Jinglei
authors: J
authors: Qu
authors: Kezuo
authors: K
authors: Hou
authors: Xianghong
authors: X
authors: Yang
authors: Yunpeng
authors: Y
authors: Liu
authors: Xiujuan
authors: X
authors: Qu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002681:China; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D053245:RANK Ligand / Q000032:analysis*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D053245:RANK Ligand; C505688:TNFSF11 protein, human