A 39-gene signature is associated with early occurrence of distant metastasis in primary lymph-node negative breast cancers

Abstract

Risk factors of the development of distant metastasis in primary node-negative breast cancer patients are heterogeneous. Identification of patients at high risk of early distant metastasis is of important clinical significance. In the current study, using the already published datasets, we develop a gene signature that can robustly predict early distant metastasis for patients with primary node-negative breast cancer. We identified a 39-gene signature, which were associated with distant metastasis and shorter distant metastasis free survival (DMFS) in node-negative breast cancers. Using the survival prediction analysis method in BRB-Array tools, this signature can stratify patients into early-and late-distant metastasis subgroups with different DMFS in VDX training dataset (AUC=0.734, P < 0.01). And we further validated the reliability of the prognostic value of this 39-gene signature in another two independent breast cancer cohorts (NKI dataset, AUC=0.642, P<0.0167; TRANSBIG dataset, AUC=0.711, P<0.0167). Furthermore, the early distant metastasis subgroups defined by the 39-gene signature exhibited a significant association with ER negative status and more aggressive molecular subtypes in all three datasets, and with poor differentiation status in two datasets. In summary, we developed a novel distant metastasis-related gene signature for predicting early occurrence of distant metastasis in node-negative breast cancers, what might be useful in making treatment decisions for these early metastasis patients.

XGBoost-based and tumor-immune characterized gene signature for the prediction of metastatic status in breast cancer

“…Some studies have conducted preliminary explorations. For instance, a 39-gene signature was reported to screen out breast cancer patients with early metastasis using survival prediction analysis (AUC = 0.734) [ 33 ]. Based on the integrated gene expression profiles and clinical information, a 51-gene signature and a centroid classifier were constructed to predict bone metastasis in breast cancer (AUC = 0.66) [ 34 ].…”

Prevalence of biological types of breast cancer and their influence on disease staging and therapeutic management – a single-center study

“…Elevated CXCR4 expression was found in 90% (in HER2-positive breast cancer) to 78.5% of patients (luminal A type of cancer) with metastases to the axillary fossa [33]. Use of tests determining the degree of expression of selected gene panels may also be helpful [34,35]. According to the authors' suggestions, these tests may be a valuable addition to the panel of prognostic factors used to date.…”