Nestin and collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 in breast cancer progression

Introduction

We have shown that nestin expression is higher in breast carcinoma with a basal phenotype [1] and collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 (CTHRC1) and periostin may predict bone metastasis of breast cancer [2]. Our aim therefore was to examine the simultaneous role of nestin and CTHRC1 in breast cancer progression.

Methods

Archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded 173 invasive breast cancer samples classified into WHO histotypes and luminal, triple-negative and Her2 subtypes were immunohistochemically stained with CTHRC1, periostin, nestin and vimentin antibodies. Staining was evaluated with histoscore and neoangiogenesis was assessed as the number of nestin-positive new vessels. The degree of inflammation was evaluated on HE-stained slides. Data were statistically processed by nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman correlation coefficient and Pearson chi-square.

Results

Both CTHRC1 stromal (P = 0.013) and nestin epithelial expression (P = 0.001) were higher in the triple-negative subtype. We found strong association between nestin expression in cancer cells and CTHRC1 stromal expression in advanced stage patients (r = 0.614; P = 0.007). Nestin expression was also associated with vimentin expression in breast cancer cells (r = 0.491; P < 0.001). Both nestin and vimentin showed positive association with degree of inflammation, in particular in triple-negative patients (r _φ = 0.422; r = 0.521; both P < 0.001). We observed higher nestin positivity in patients with lymph node metastases and high periostin stromal expression (P = 0.031).

Conclusion

For the first time, we report an association between CTHRC1 and nestin expression in patients with advanced breast cancer. Further investigation is needed to better clarify their role in inflammation and breast cancer progression.