The relationship of FUT4 and CXCR4 proteins with prognostic parameters in invasive breast carcinomas

Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of FUT4 and CXCR4, which are proteins that play an effective role in epithelial-mesenchymal transformation, together with clinicopathological parameters and FUT4 protein mRNA levels in normal breast tissue and invasive breast cancer tissues by RT-PCR method. Materials and Methods: In this study, 30 cases diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma and 20 control cases who underwent reduction mammoplasty in Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Department of Medical Pathology between 2010-2020 were included. Demographic information and pathology reports were scanned through the hospital database system. Information such as grade, degree of invasion, lymph node metastasis in the reports were confirmed histopathologically. The sections of the biopsies were reevaluated and histopathological examinations were performed with hematoxylin-eosin staining. Expressions of FUT4 gene was performed by RT-PCR analysis and FUT4 and CXCR4 expressions were evaluated immunohistochemically. Results: The mean age of the patients was 48,23±8,80 (min:32,00-max:66,00) years. Lymphovascular invasion was detected in 16 (53.3%) patients. Lymph node metastasis was found in 15 (50%) patients. CXCR4 median values were found to be significantly higher in the patient group compared to the control group (p<0,001). The median CXCR4 values of the cases in the pN0 group were found to be significantly lower compared to the pN1a-N3a group (p<0,001). A statistically significant difference was found between the patient and control groups in terms of FUT4 score rates (p<0,001). A statistically significant 2,14 fold increase in FUT4 gene expression was detected in the patient group compared to the control group (p=0,004). Conclusion: CXCR4 expression correlates with lymph node metastasis found. It was found that there was an increase in the gene expression of FUT4 in breast tumor cases. Our study supports the possibility that FUT4 is a novel regulator of epithelial mesenchymal transformation in breast cancer cells and a promising target for cancer therapy. Key words: Breast carcinoma, metastasis, prognosis, chemokine