title: Expression of HOXD3 correlates with shorter survival in patients with invasive breast cancer.
abstract: Hox genes encode a family of homeodomain-containing transcription factors that determine cellular identity during development and which are also expressed in some types of cancer. The HOXD3 gene, a member of the Hox gene family, has been demonstrated to be expressed in several tumor cell lines, which exhibit enhanced invasion and metastasis through coordinate expression of metastasis-associated factors. However, the clinical impact of HOXD3 in breast cancer remains unclear. In the current study, we examined the expression of HOXD3 and integrin β3 by immunohistochemical staining in patients with invasive breast cancer. We found that HOXD3 expression was significantly frequent in high histopathological grade and hormone-receptor negative breast cancer patients. The expression of HOXD3 was closely associated with integrin β3 expression. Furthermore, patients with high HOXD3 expression levels in their breast tumors had significantly shorter survival times than patients in which HOXD3 was weakly expressed in breast tumors. Univariate and multivariate analyses confirmed that increased HOXD3-expression was an independent and significant factor in predicting poor prognosis for patients with breast cancer. In conclusion, HOXD3 expression is a significant unfavorable prognostic factor for patients with invasive breast cancer and as such is a potentially useful prognostic marker for breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Hapin Street 150, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shaoqiang
authors.forename: Zhang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Zhao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lina
authors.forename: Pang
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Da
authors.forename: Zhang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qingyuan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality* / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D039661:Integrin beta3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D015996:Survival Rate; D014157:Transcription Factors
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D039661:Integrin beta3; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D014157:Transcription Factors; C073547:HOXA4 protein, human