Laboratory Medicine ›› 2022, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (9): 815-820.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-8640.2022.09.003

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Relations of ZEB2 and E-Cad expressions in breast cancer tissues with prognosis

WANG Xiaoye1, DONG Guoyou1, LIU Zhiying2()   

  1. 1. Department of Pathology,Tangshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital,Tangshan 063000,Hebei,China
    2. Department of General Surgery,Tangshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital,Tangshan 063000,Hebei,China
  • Received:2020-08-07 Revised:2021-09-03 Online:2022-09-30 Published:2022-10-25
  • Contact: LIU Zhiying

Abstract:

Objective To analyze the expressions and prognostic values of E-box binding zinc finger protein 2(ZEB2) and epithelial-cadherin(E-Cad) in breast cancer tissues. Methods Tissue specimens of 80 patients with pathologically confirmed breast cancer and normal tissue specimens of adjacent tissues(≤3 cm from cancer tissues) were collected. Immunohistochemistry and real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR) were used to determine the expressions of ZEB2 and E-Cad proteins and their mRNA in breast cancer tissues and corresponding adjacent tissues. The medical history data of all the patients were collected. All the patients were followed up for 5 years,and the survival status was recorded. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to analyze the relations between the expressions of ZEB2 and E-Cad and the survival rate of breast cancer patients. Cox proportional hazard model was used to analyze the prognostic factors of 5-year survival rate of patients with breast cancer. Receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve was used to analyze the efficacy of ZEB2 and E-Cad in breast cancer. Results The positive rate of ZEB2 in cancer tissues was higher than that in adjacent tissues(P<0.05),while the positive rate of E-Cad in cancer tissues was lower than that in adjacent tissues(P<0.05). There was a negative correlation between the expressions of ZEB2 and E-Cad in breast cancer tissues(r=-0.265,P=0.018). The relative expression of ZEB2 mRNA in cancer tissues was higher than that in adjacent tissues,while the relative expression of E-Cad mRNA in cancer tissues was lower than that in adjacent tissues. The expression of ZEB2 was related to tumor diameter,lymph node metastasis,TNM stage and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2(HER-2) expression. The expression of E-Cad was related to lymph node metastasis,TNM stage,estrogen receptor(ER) expression,progesterone receptor(PR) expression and HER-2 expression. The 5-year survival rates of ZEB2-negative and E-Cad-positive breast cancer patients was higher than that of ZEB2-positive and E-Cad-negative breast cancer patients,respectively(P<0.05). Cox proportional hazard model analysis showed that lymph node metastasis,TNM stage,ZEB2 expression and E-Cad expression were the prognostic factors for breast cancer patients [hazard ratio(HR)=3.47,6.49,2.35 and 0.15,respectively]. The results of ROC curve analysis showed that the areas under the curves for judging the 5-year survival of breast cancer by single and combined determinations of ZEB2 and E-Cad were 0.618,0.638 and 0.827,respectively. Conclusions ZEB2 and E-Cad proteins are abnormally expressed in breast cancer tissues,which may be used to evaluate the prognosis of breast cancer.

Key words: E-box binding zinc finger protein 2, Epithelial-cadherin, Breast cancer, Prognosis

CLC Number: