Annexin 2 protein expression is associated with breast cancer subtypes in African American women.

BACKGROUND

A review of literature on the expression of Annexin 2 in cancer has shown that there is very limited research work on the association of this protein with breast cancer aggressiveness in African Americans. In the present study, TMA breast tissues from African American women were stained with Annexin 2 antibody to determine the association between the molecular subtypes and Annexin 2 protein expression.

METHOD

An annotated case series of 135 breast cancer tissues archived from 2000 to 2010 was acquired from the Howard University Tumor Registry. The association between ANX2 expression and survival by molecular subtypes Luminal A, Luminal B, HER2, and Triple Negative (TN) was assessed using Multinomial regression, chi-square analysis, and Kaplan-Meir graphs (Stata 11).

RESULTS

Our findings show a marked association between ANX2 protein expression in Luminal B and HER2 subtypes unadjusted and when adjusted for age. Borderline differences in tumor grade were found in TN only.Univariately, age (<50, 50 + years) and metastases were highly significant for overall survival, disease-free survival and recurrence-free survival. Stage, tumor size, and nodal involvement were of borderline or greater significance for overall and disease-free survival. ANX2 expression was not significant. Kaplan Meier tests of ANX2 showed significant separation of overall survival by ANX2 protein expression in all breast tumor subtypes. In multivariate analyses comparing TN to Luminal A, ANX2 was not important while controlling for age and grade.

CONCLUSION

ANX2 might be a biomarker of aggressiveness and a relevant candidate biomarker in high risk African American women with Luminal B and HER2 breast cancer.