title: Elovl6 is a poor prognostic predictor in breast cancer.
abstract: Elongation of long chain fatty acids family member 6 (Elovl6) has been demonstrated to be involved in insulin resistance, obesity and lipogenesis. In addition, it has been reported that the protein is upregulated in human hepatocellular carcinoma and is implicated in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis-associated liver carcinogenesis. Excess body weight has been associated with an increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer and poor prognosis. However, the connection between Elovl6 expression and outcome of breast cancer remains uncertain. Therefore, the present study used immunohistochemical analysis to investigate the expression of Elovl6 in breast cancer tissues from patients who had undergone curative mastectomy. Out of a total of 70 patients, 37.1% of patients exhibited positive Elovl6 expression in breast cancer tissue, whilst 62.9% were considered as negative. Positive Elov16 expression correlated with positive lymph node involvement and shorter recurrence-free survival. However, Elovl6 expression had no association with primary tumor size, lymph node metastasis, stage, grade, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, HER2 and age. Therefore, positive Elovl6 expression is a poor prognostic factor in patients with breast cancer that have previously undergone surgery, and may function as a potential therapeutic approach in the future, particularly in the scope of obesity related disease.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan 71004, Taiwan R.O.C.; Department of Nursing, College of Medicine and Life Science, Chung Hwa University of Medical Technology, Tainan 71703, Taiwan R.O.C.
authors.forename: Yin-Hsun
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan 71004, Taiwan R.O.C.
authors.forename: Wei-Yu
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan 71004, Taiwan R.O.C.
authors.forename: Yu-Hsuan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan 71004, Taiwan R.O.C.
authors.forename: Chao-Ling
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Tung
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Oncology, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan 73657, Taiwan R.O.C.
authors.forename: Chao-Jung
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Tsao
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan R.O.C.
authors.forename: Ai-Li
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Shiau
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan R.O.C.
authors.forename: Chao-Liang
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wu
keywords: breast cancer; elongation of long-chain fatty acids family member 6; lipogenesis; obesity; prognosis