Department of Pathology, Chonnam National University Research Institute of Medical Science, Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital and Medical School, 322 Seoyang-ro, Hwasun-eup, Hwasun-gun, 58128, Jeollanam-do, South Korea.
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
BMC Cancer. 2023 May 22;23(1):468. doi: 10.1186/s12885-023-10957-5.
Breast cancer brain metastasis (BCBM) is a growing therapeutic challenge and clinical concern. Stromal cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are crucial factors in the modulation of tumorigeneses and metastases. Herein, we investigated the relationship between the expression of stromal CAF markers in metastatic sites, platelet-derived growth factor receptor-beta (PDGFR-β), and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and the clinical and prognostic variables in BCBM patients.
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) of the stromal expression of PDGFR-β and α-SMA was performed on 50 cases of surgically resected BCBM. The expression of the CAF markers was analyzed in the context of clinico-pathological characteristics.
Expression of PDGFR-β and α-SMA was lower in the triple-negative (TN) subtype than in other molecular subtypes (p = 0.073 and p = 0.016, respectively). And their expressions were related to a specific pattern of CAF distribution (PDGFR-β, p = 0.009; α-SMA, p = 0.043) and BM solidity (p = 0.009 and p = 0.002, respectively). High PDGFR-β expression was significantly related to longer recurrence-free survival (RFS) (p = 0.011). TN molecular subtype and PDGFR-β expression were independent prognostic factors of recurrence-free survival (p = 0.029 and p = 0.030, respectively) and TN molecular subtype was an independent prognostic factor of overall survival (p < 0.001).
Expression of PDGFR-β in the stroma of BM was associated with RFS in BCBM patients, and the clinical implication was uniquely linked to the low expression of PDGFR-β and α-SMA in the aggressive form of the TN subtype.
乳腺癌脑转移（BCBM）是一个不断增长的治疗挑战和临床关注点。基质癌症相关成纤维细胞（CAFs）是调节肿瘤发生和转移的关键因素。在此，我们研究了转移性部位基质 CAF 标志物（血小板衍生生长因子受体-β（PDGFR-β）和α-平滑肌肌动蛋白（α-SMA）的表达与 BCBM 患者的临床和预后变量之间的关系。
对 50 例手术切除的 BCBM 进行了基质 PDGFR-β和α-SMA 表达的免疫组织化学（IHC）检测。分析了 CAF 标志物在临床病理特征中的表达。
PDGFR-β和α-SMA 的表达在三阴性（TN）亚型中低于其他分子亚型（p=0.073 和 p=0.016）。并且它们的表达与特定的 CAF 分布模式（PDGFR-β，p=0.009；α-SMA，p=0.043）和 BM 实性（p=0.009 和 p=0.002）相关。高 PDGFR-β表达与无复发生存期（RFS）较长显著相关（p=0.011）。TN 分子亚型和 PDGFR-β表达是无复发生存期的独立预后因素（p=0.029 和 p=0.030），TN 分子亚型是总生存期的独立预后因素（p<0.001）。
BM 基质中 PDGFR-β的表达与 BCBM 患者的 RFS 相关，其临床意义与 TN 亚型侵袭性形式中 PDGFR-β和α-SMA 的低表达独特相关。
