Kang Eun Joo, Jung Hoiseon, Woo Ok Hee, Park Kyong Hwa, Woo Sang Uk, Yang Dae Sik, Kim Ae-Ree, Lee Jae-Bok, Kim Yeul Hong, Kim Jun Suk, Seo Jae Hong
Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University, Guro Hospital 97 Gurodong-gil, Guro-ku, Seoul, Korea.
Tumour Biol. 2014 Jan;35(1):277-86. doi: 10.1007/s13277-013-1036-0. Epub 2013 Aug 6.
YKL-40 is a glycoprotein involved in cellular growth, migration, and the inflammatory process. Elevation in serum levels of YKL-40 has been associated with worse prognosis in various cancers, including breast cancer. Given that the clinical significance of YKL-40 expression in breast cancer tissue is unclear, we aimed to determine the prognostic value of YKL-40 expression in breast cancer tissue using immunohistochemistry. We performed tissue microarray (TMA) analysis of 425 breast cancer tissues collected during operation. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to measure expression of YKL-40 and several breast cancer biomarkers, such as aldehyde dehyadrogenase1, TGF-beta, and Gli-1 as well as hormonal receptor and Her-2/neu status. Statistical analysis of the relationship of YKL-40 expression with clinicopathological characteristics was performed for 390 TMA samples. YKL-40 was expressed to varying degrees in 84.9% of breast cancer tissues. YKL-40 expression was correlated with estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor negativity and was positively correlated with TGF-beta and Gli-1 expression. Strong YKL-40 expression was associated with a larger proportion of Her-2/neu-enriched and basal-like tumors. The results of this study demonstrate that YKL-40 expression in breast cancer tissues is associated with hormone receptor negativity and Her-2/neu-enriched molecular subtypes of breast cancer, and therefore could be considered a poor prognostic predictor.
YKL-40是一种参与细胞生长、迁移及炎症过程的糖蛋白。YKL-40血清水平升高与包括乳腺癌在内的多种癌症的预后较差相关。鉴于YKL-40在乳腺癌组织中表达的临床意义尚不清楚，我们旨在通过免疫组织化学确定YKL-40在乳腺癌组织中的预后价值。我们对手术中收集的425例乳腺癌组织进行了组织微阵列（TMA）分析。进行免疫组织化学染色以检测YKL-40以及几种乳腺癌生物标志物的表达，如醛脱氢酶1、转化生长因子-β、Gli-1以及激素受体和人表皮生长因子受体2（Her-2/neu）状态。对390个TMA样本进行了YKL-40表达与临床病理特征关系的统计分析。84.9%的乳腺癌组织中YKL-40呈不同程度表达。YKL-40表达与雌激素受体和孕激素受体阴性相关，与转化生长因子-β和Gli-1表达呈正相关。YKL-40强表达与更大比例的Her-2/neu富集型和基底样肿瘤相关。本研究结果表明，乳腺癌组织中YKL-40表达与激素受体阴性及Her-2/neu富集型乳腺癌分子亚型相关，因此可被视为不良预后指标。
