The HOXB13:IL17BR Expression Index Is a Prognostic Factor in Early-Stage Breast Cancer

Abstract

This tumor bank study demonstrated HOXB13:IL17BR index is a strong independent prognostic factor for ER+ node-negative patients irrespective of tamoxifen therapy.

Exploring the two-gene ratio in breast cancer—independent roles for HOXB13 and IL17BR in prediction of clinical outcome

“…According to previous studies, the clinical importance of the two-gene ratio is largely confined to lymph node-negative patients [10][11][12][13]. The patients in the present study, on the other hand, were mainly lymph node-positive (72%).…”

“…In another study, these results could not be verified [11]. However, the cohort of 58 patients in this study, mainly comprised lymph node-positive patients, and subsequent studies on the two-gene expression ratio have suggested that the principal prognostic value may be found among lymph node-negative patients [12,13]. As the importance of HOXB13:IL17BR has not been evaluated in a randomized study comparing adjuvant tamoxifen vs. no adjuvant tamoxifen, the importance of the ratio for predicting the response to adjuvant tamoxifen is still a matter of debate.…”

“…Taken together, patients with tumors expressing IL17BR at a low level, with a shorter recurrence-free survival than those with high IL17BR, may still be candidates for tamoxifen treatment. The HOXB13:IL17BR ratio has previously been shown to be an independent prognostic factor in ER-positive and node-negative patients [13]. The ratio and HOXB13 gene expression could be of importance for identification of which ERpositive breast cancer patients will respond to tamoxifen and those who are resistant and thus need different adjuvant treatment.…”

“…The patients in the present study, on the other hand, were mainly lymph node-positive (72%). Earlier studies have included patients uniformly treated with tamoxifen and thus can not for certain prove if the ratio is treatment predictive, prognostic, or both, although the recent study by Ma and colleagues indicated a prognostic value in a cohort of untreated patients [13]. The randomization of treatment duration in our group of patients enabled us to investigate whether the two-gene ratio could predict the benefit of prolonged treatment with tamoxifen.…”

A gene transcription signature of the Akt/mTOR pathway in clinical breast tumors

“…For ER-, PR-and HER2 status, mRNA expression as measured by microarrays was used as the surrogate for protein expression, as there is high correlation between RNA and protein for these genes (van de Vijver et al, 2002;Paik et al, 2004;Ma et al, 2006). For the set of Akt-induced, RAD001-sensitive (i.e.…”