title: Circulating tumor cell clusters-associated gene plakoglobin and breast cancer survival.
abstract: Breast cancer recurrence is a major cause of the disease-specific death. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are negatively associated with breast cancer survival. Plakoglobin, a cell adhesion protein, was recently reported as a determinant of CTCs types, single or clustered ones. Here, we aim to summarize the studies on the roles of plakoglobin and evaluate the association of plakoglobin and breast cancer survival. Plakoglobin as a key component in both cell adhesion and the signaling pathways was briefly reviewed first. Then the double-edge functions of plakoglobin in tumors and its association with CTCs and breast cancer metastasis were introduced. Finally, based on an open-access database, the association between plakoglobin and breast cancer survival was investigated using univariate and multivariate survival analyses. Plakoglobin may be a molecule functioning as a double-edge sword. Loss of plakoglobin expression leads to increased motility of epithelial cells, thereby promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition and further metastasis of cancer. However, studies also show that plakoglobin can function as an oncogene. High expression of plakoglobin results in clustered tumor cells in circulation with high metastatic potential in breast cancer and shortened patient survival. Plakoglobin may be a potential prognostic biomarker that can be exploited to develop as a therapeutic target for breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Yale Cancer Center, Yale University, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT, 06520-8034, USA, lingeng.lu@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Lingeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Hongmei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Xinsheng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Wenxue
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000235:genetics; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051185:gamma Catenin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051185:gamma Catenin