title: High YKL-40 serum concentration is correlated with prognosis of Chinese patients with breast cancer.
abstract: This study aimed to investigate the association between serum YKL-40 and prognosis of breast cancer in a Chinese population. Expression of YKL-40 of 120 Chinese patients with breast cancer and 30 controls (benign breast lesions) was measured in tumor tissue by immunohistochemistry and in serum by ELISA. Differences in YKL-40 positivity grouped by specific patients' characteristics were compared using Pearson Chi-square test for rates of intratumoral staining, one-way ANOVA with a Bonferroni post-hoc comparison, or two-sample t-test for mean YKL-40 serum concentrations. Factors associated with overall survival were identified by univariate and multivariate cox-regression analyses. YKL-40 was elevated in approximately 75% of Chinese patients with breast cancer. A significantly higher percentage of patients with YKL-40 positive tumors had larger tumor size, higher TNM stage, and/or lymph node metastasis. Significantly higher mean YKL-40 serum concentrations were observed in patient subgroups with invasive lobular carcinoma (P<0.0167), higher TNM stage (P<0.001), and positive lymph node metastasis (P<0.001). The estimated mean survival time of patients with YKL-40 positive tumors was significantly shorter than for patients with YKL-40 negative tumors (55.13 months vs 65.78 months, P = 0.017). Multivariable Cox-regression analysis identified a significant association of overall survival time with YKL-40 serum concentration. Patients with YKL-40 positive tumors had significantly shorter disease free survival times than those with YKL-40 negative tumors. We propose that the potential utility of YKL-40 intratumoral staining or serum concentration as a biomarker for breast cancer is greatest within 5 years of diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, the Fourth Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhai
authors.forename: Fengli
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jinpeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D054392:Adipokines / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D000071451:Chitinase-3-Like Protein 1; D003710:Demography; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D037102:Lectins / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012372:ROC Curve
chemical_list: D054392:Adipokines; C084533:CHI3L1 protein, human; D000071451:Chitinase-3-Like Protein 1; D037102:Lectins