title: Expression of pigment epithelium-derived factor is associated with a good prognosis and is correlated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related genes in infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma.
abstract: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a pivotal event in the progression of cancer towards metastasis. Given that pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) inhibits angiogenesis, the present study analyzed whether PEDF expression is associated with EMT and prognosis in invasive ductal breast cancer (IDC). Immunohistochemical analysis was used to examine the expression levels of PEDF, E-cadherin, vimentin, Snail and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in 119 cases of IDC. Correlations between PEDF expression and EMT-related genes, and clinicopathological features and clinical prognosis were analyzed. E-cadherin, vimentin, Snail and NF-κB expression was correlated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis and clinicopathological stage. PEDF expression was closely associated with tumor size. Spearman's rank correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between PEDF and E-cadherin, vimentin, Snail and NF-κB expression (P<0.05). Additionally, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that the five-year survival rate was higher for patients with PEDF- and E-cadherin-positive tumors, but was lower for those with vimentin-, Snail- and NF-κB-positive tumors. Vimentin, E-cadherin and NF-κB levels were dependent prognostic factors of favorable outcomes in IDC, as determined by Cox multivariate analysis. PEDF expression in breast cancer was significantly associated with EMT-related genes, suggesting that it may be an EMT suppressor. However, its potential as a prognostic indicator in breast cancer warrants further investigation.
authors: Department of General Surgery, Zhujiang Hospital Affiliated to Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510282, P.R. China; Department of Breast Surgery, Foshan Hospital Affiliated to Sun Yat-Sen University, The First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong 528100, P.R. China.
authors: Dan
authors: D
authors: Zhou
authors: Department of Histology and Embryology, State Key Laboratory, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China.
authors: Min
authors: M
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Histology and Embryology, State Key Laboratory, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China.
authors: Pengcheng
authors: P
authors: Xu
authors: Department of Histology and Embryology, State Key Laboratory, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China.
authors: Yang
authors: Y
authors: Yu
authors: Department of Breast Surgery, Foshan Hospital Affiliated to Sun Yat-Sen University, The First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong 528100, P.R. China.
authors: Guolin
authors: G
authors: Ye
authors: Department of Histology and Embryology, State Key Laboratory, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China.
authors: Lin
authors: L
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of General Surgery, Zhujiang Hospital Affiliated to Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510282, P.R. China.
authors: Aiguo
authors: A
authors: Wu
keywords: breast cancer; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; pigment epithelium-derived factor; prognosis