Expression of pigment epithelium-derived factor is associated with a good prognosis and is correlated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related genes in infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma

Zhou,Dan; Zhang,Min; Xu,Pengcheng; Yu,Yang; Ye,Guolin; Zhang,Lin; Wu,Aiguo

doi:10.3892/ol.2015.3880

Expression of pigment epithelium-derived factor is associated with a good prognosis and is correlated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related genes in infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma

Authors:
- Dan Zhou
- Min Zhang
- Pengcheng Xu
- Yang Yu
- Guolin Ye
- Lin Zhang
- Aiguo Wu
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Affiliations: Department of General Surgery, Zhujiang Hospital Affiliated to Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510282, P.R. China, Department of Histology and Embryology, State Key Laboratory, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China, Department of Breast Surgery, Foshan Hospital Affiliated to Sun Yat‑Sen University, The First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong 528100, P.R. China
Published online on: November 6, 2015 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2015.3880
Pages: 116-124
Copyright: © Zhou et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a pivotal event in the progression of cancer towards metastasis. Given that pigment epithelium‑derived factor (PEDF) inhibits angiogenesis, the present study analyzed whether PEDF expression is associated with EMT and prognosis in invasive ductal breast cancer (IDC). Immunohistochemical analysis was used to examine the expression levels of PEDF, E‑cadherin, vimentin, Snail and nuclear factor‑κB (NF‑κB) in 119 cases of IDC. Correlations between PEDF expression and EMT‑related genes, and clinicopathological features and clinical prognosis were analyzed. E‑cadherin, vimentin, Snail and NF‑κB expression was correlated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis and clinicopathological stage. PEDF expression was closely associated with tumor size. Spearman's rank correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between PEDF and E‑cadherin, vimentin, Snail and NF‑κB expression (P<0.05). Additionally, Kaplan‑Meier survival analysis demonstrated that the five‑year survival rate was higher for patients with PEDF‑ and E‑cadherin‑positive tumors, but was lower for those with vimentin‑, Snail‑ and NF‑κB‑positive tumors. Vimentin, E‑cadherin and NF‑κB levels were dependent prognostic factors of favorable outcomes in IDC, as determined by Cox multivariate analysis. PEDF expression in breast cancer was significantly associated with EMT‑related genes, suggesting that it may be an EMT suppressor. However, its potential as a prognostic indicator in breast cancer warrants further investigation.

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