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Serum levels of apolipoprotein E correlates with disease progression and poor prognosis in breast cancer

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

ApoE has been reported to be associated with tumorigenesis and tumor progression. In this study, we explored the potential diagnostic and prognostic role of serum ApoE in breast cancer patients. Subject cohorts consisted of 152 normal healthy controls female and 257 breast cancer cases. Serum levels of ApoE were determined with turbidimetric immunoassay. The serum levels of ApoE were significantly elevated in breast cancer patients compared with normal healthy controls (45.82 ± 13.96 mg/L vs. 33.61 ± 6.44 mg/L, respectively, P < 0.0001) and also significantly associated with TNM stage and lymph nodes status (all P < 0.05). Area under receiver operating characteristic curve for serum ApoE discriminate breast cancer patients from controls was 0.786 with specificity of 0.974 and sensitivity of 0.541, the cut-off value of ApoE was 43.15 mg/L. Kaplan-Meier log rank analysis showed that the high serum ApoE group (serum ApoE ≥ 43.15 mg/L) had a poorer progression-free survival and overall survival compared with low serum ApoE group (serum ApoE < 43.15 mg/L) (all P < 0.05). In addition, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis displayed serum ApoE as an independent risk factor of breast cancer patients prognosis (all P < 0.05). Serum ApoE played a role as serological biomarkers that indicated diagnostic and prognostic evaluation in breast cancer patients.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Specialized Research Fund for the Science and Technology Department of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 2014A020212477 to LSL, 2014A020212720 to JML), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (Grant No. 2015A030313035 to LSL), the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20130171120069 to LSL), and the Science and Technology Department of Guangzhou City, China (Grant No. 201400000004-2 to ML). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China

    Xiangdong Xu

  2. Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 58 Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou, 510080, China

    Jianxin Wan, Pinning Feng, Weiqing Long, Hao Huang, Pingjuan Liu, Yuesu Cai, Min Liu & Laisheng Li

  3. Department of Gynaecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China

    Linjing Yuan

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, Medical Intensive Care Unit and Division of Respiratory Diseases, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, 510630, China

    Junhui Ba & Jinmei Luo

  5. Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, 523808, China

    Pingjuan Liu & Yuesu Cai

Authors
  1. Xiangdong Xu
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  2. Jianxin Wan
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  3. Linjing Yuan
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  4. Junhui Ba
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  7. Hao Huang
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  8. Pingjuan Liu
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  9. Yuesu Cai
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  10. Min Liu
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  11. Jinmei Luo
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  12. Laisheng Li
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jinmei Luo or Laisheng Li.

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Authors’ contributions

LSL and JML designed the experiment, interpreted the data, and prepared the manuscript. XDX, JXW, LJY, JHB, PNF, WQL, HH, PJL, YSC, ML, JML, and LSL conducted the experiment, collected the data, and helped to prepare the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Xiangdong Xu and Jianxin Wan contributed equally to this work.

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Xu, X., Wan, J., Yuan, L. et al. Serum levels of apolipoprotein E correlates with disease progression and poor prognosis in breast cancer. Tumor Biol. 37, 15959–15966 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-016-5453-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-016-5453-8

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