title: Expression of ROR1 has prognostic significance in triple negative breast cancer.
abstract: Overexpression of receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor (ROR1) in a variety of human malignancies is associated with aggressive behaviour. Therapeutic agents targeting ROR1 have shown promising results in vivo and in vitro studies. In breast cancer, high-level expression of ROR1 mRNA is associated with high-grade tumours and metastasis. We investigated the prevalence and prognostic significance of ROR1 expression in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). ROR1 was immunohistochemically stained on full-face sections of 210 TNBC patient samples. Forty-seven TNBC cases (22.4 %) showed strong ROR1 expression, which was associated with shorter disease-free survival (DFS; P = 0.00015), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS; P = 0.00013) and overall survival (OS; P = 0.026) in univariate analyses. Results were confirmed by multivariate analysis. Seventy TNBC cases (33.3 %) with medullary features showed longer OS (P = 0.00013). We divided the whole series into two subgroups based on the presence or absence of medullary features. Strong ROR1 expression retained a predictive value of shorter DFS and DMFS in both subgroups. Our study suggests that strong ROR1 expression might be an independent adverse prognostic factor in TNBC patients and may serve as a potential marker for patient selection in ROR1-targeted therapy. More large-scale studies are needed to clarify its potential usefulness.
authors.forename: Hui-Ping
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou 5 Fu-Hsin Street, Kwei-Shan, Taoyuan, 333, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shir-Hwa
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ueng
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shin-Cheh
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Chang Gung Molecular Medicine Research Center and Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yu-Sun
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Division of Haematology and Oncology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yung-Chang
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yun-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.affiliation: Division of Haematology and Oncology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hsien-Kun
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou 5 Fu-Hsin Street, Kwei-Shan, Taoyuan, 333, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wen-Yu
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yi-Ting
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging and Intervention, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yun-Chung
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shih-Che
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou 5 Fu-Hsin Street, Kwei-Shan, Taoyuan, 333, Taiwan, Republic of China. ch9211@adm.cgmh.org.tw.|Chang Gung Molecular Medicine Research Center and Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Republic of China. ch9211@adm.cgmh.org.tw.
authors.forename: Chuen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hsueh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D057050:Receptor Tyrosine Kinase-like Orphan Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000235:genetics; D064726:Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D057050:Receptor Tyrosine Kinase-like Orphan Receptors; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; C078716:ROR1 protein, human
keywords: Carcinoma with medullary features; Prognosis; ROR1 tyrosine kinase; Triple negative breast cancer