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Combined Runx2 and Snail overexpression is associated with a poor prognosis in breast cancer

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of Runx2 and Snail expression in breast cancer. The expression of Runx2 and Snail in clinical specimens from 125 breast cancer patients was detected by immunohistochemistry. The results showed there is a link between Runx2 and Snail expression at protein levels (p = 0.007). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that Runx2 or Snail expression was correlated with shortened disease-free survival (DFS) (p = 0.002, p = 0.004, respectively) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.002, p = 0.009, respectively). In addition, Runx2-positive/Snail-positive patients had the worst DFS and OS (p = 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively). In multivariate survival analysis, Runx2, Snail, and combined Runx2/Snail were still remained as independent prognostic factors for DFS (p = 0.020, p = 0.013, and p = 0.001, respectively) and OS (p = 0.027, p = 0.030 and p = 0.005, respectively). These results suggest that a combined Runx2/Snail expression could be used as a new significant prognostic biomarker for patients with breast cancer.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 81372843) and the Tianjin Municipal Nature Science Foundation (Grant no. 11JCZDJC28000, 13JCYBJC21800).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Huanhu West Road, Hexi District, Tianjin, 300060, China

    Zhengjun Yang, Bin Zhang, Bowen Liu, Yegong Xie & Xuchen Cao

  2. Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin, China

    Zhengjun Yang, Bin Zhang, Bowen Liu, Yegong Xie & Xuchen Cao

  3. Key Laboratory of Breast Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin Medical University, Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China

    Zhengjun Yang, Bin Zhang, Bowen Liu, Yegong Xie & Xuchen Cao

  4. The First Department of Breast Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China

    Zhengjun Yang, Bin Zhang, Bowen Liu, Yegong Xie & Xuchen Cao

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  1. Zhengjun Yang
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  2. Bin Zhang
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  3. Bowen Liu
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Correspondence to Bin Zhang.

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Yang, Z., Zhang, B., Liu, B. et al. Combined Runx2 and Snail overexpression is associated with a poor prognosis in breast cancer. Tumor Biol. 36, 4565–4573 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-3101-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-3101-3

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