title: Elevated serum haptoglobin is associated with clinical outcome in triple-negative breast cancer patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Breast cancer is the most common malignancy with the highest incidence rates among women worldwide. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) disease is diagnosed more frequently in younger women, and is associated with a poor prognosis. Elevated levels of serum haptoglobin protein (Hp) are observed in many malignant diseases including breast cancer. We evaluated the expression and prognostic value of Hp among patients with TNBC.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum Hp levels were determined by Elisa in 41 patients with TNBC and 10 normal individuals. Hp status was correlated with other clinico-pathological parameters including patient survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 41 patients with TNBC, Hp over expression was detected in 24 (59%) by Elisa. Hp up-regulation was confirmed by Elisa based quantification in the serum of 41 TNBC patients against lower grades and 10 normal individuals. Survival analysis revealed that Hp (p=2.016x10-5), stage (p=2.166x10-5), distant metastasis (p=2.217x10-5), tumor size (p=1.053x10-5), and tumor grade (p=0.001), correlated with patient survival on univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis revealed that Hp (p=0.001), and grade of the disease (p=0.008) were independent predictors of survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that serum levels of Hp may play a role as a potential serum biomarker and prognostic indicator among TNBC patients. Thus, Hp may present a new promising prognostic biomarker in TNBC patients, but independent validations are now necessary for confirmation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Umaira
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Tabassum
authors.forename: Obula
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: Geetashree
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006242:Haptoglobins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D006242:Haptoglobins; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; C485359:HP protein, human; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human