| Literature DB >> 25340395 |
Isabel Sicking1, Karolina Edlund2, Eva Wesbuer1, Veronika Weyer3, Marco J Battista1, Antje Lebrecht1, Christine Solbach1, Marianna Grinberg4, Johannes Lotz5, Gerald Hoffmann1, Jörg Rahnenführer4, Jan G Hengstler2, Marcus Schmidt1.
Abstract
The importance of inflammation is increasingly noticed in cancer. The aim of this study was to analyze the prognostic influence of pre-operative serum C-reactive protein (CRP) in a cohort of 148 lymph node-negative breast cancer patients. The prognostic significance of CRP level for disease-free survival (DFS), metastasis-free survival (MFS) and overall survival (OS) was evaluated using univariate and multivariate Cox regression, also including information on age at diagnosis, tumor size, tumor grade, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status, proliferation index (Ki67) and molecular subtype, as well as an assessment of the presence of necrosis and inflammation in the tumor tissue. Univariate analysis showed that CRP, as a continuous variable, was significantly associated with DFS (P = 0.002, hazard ratio [HR] = 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02-1.07) and OS (P = 0.036, HR= 1.03, 95% CI = 1.00-1.06), whereas a trend was observed for MFS (P = 0.111). In the multivariate analysis, CRP retained its significance for DFS (P = 0.033, HR= 1.01, 95% CI = 1.00-1.07) as well as OS (P = 0.023, HR= 1.03, 95% CI = 1.00-1.06), independent of established prognostic factors. Furthermore, large-scale gene expression analysis by Affymetrix HG-U133A arrays was performed for 72 (48.6%) patients. The correlations between serum CRP and gene expression levels in the corresponding carcinoma of the breast were assessed using Spearman's rank correlation, controlled for false-discovery rate. No significant correlation was observed between CRP level and gene expression indicative of an ongoing local inflammatory process. In summary, pre-operatively elevated CRP levels at the time of diagnosis were associated with shorter DFS and OS independent of established prognostic factors in node-negative breast cancer, supporting a possible link between inflammation and prognosis in breast cancer.Entities:
Mesh:
Substances:
Year: 2014 PMID: 25340395 PMCID: PMC4207815 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111306
Source DB: PubMed Journal: PLoS One ISSN: 1932-6203 Impact factor: 3.240
Clinicopathological characteristics for node-negative breast cancer patients.
| n | % | |
|
| 148 | 100.0 |
|
| ||
| Elevated (>5mg/l) | 31 | 20.9 |
| Normal (≤5mg/l) | 117 | 79.1 |
|
| ||
| ≤2cm | 105 | 70.9 |
| >2cm | 43 | 29.1 |
|
| ||
| Grade I | 40 | 27.0 |
| Grade II | 84 | 56.8 |
| Grade III | 24 | 16.2 |
|
| ||
| <50 years | 29 | 19.6 |
| ≥50 years | 119 | 80.4 |
|
| ||
| ER positive | 128 | 86.5 |
| ER negative | 17 | 11.5 |
| Missing data | 3 | 2.0 |
|
| ||
| PR positive | 33 | 22.3 |
| PR negative | 112 | 75.7 |
| Missing data | 3 | 2.0 |
|
| ||
| HER2 positive | 16 | 10.8 |
| HER2 negative | 129 | 87.2 |
| Missing data | 3 | 2.0 |
|
| ||
| ≤20% | 94 | 63.5 |
| >20% | 43 | 29.1 |
| Missing data | 11 | 7.4 |
|
| ||
| Luminal A | 86 | 58.1 |
| Luminal B | 24 | 16.2 |
| Basal-like | 13 | 8.8 |
| HER2+ | 16 | 10.8 |
| Missing data | 9 | 6.1 |
|
| ||
| Yes | 10 | 6.8 |
| No | 138 | 93.2 |
|
| ||
| Yes | 20 | 13.5 |
| No | 128 | 86.5 |
|
| ||
| Breast cancer | 13 | 8.8 |
| Other | 21 | 14.2 |
| Alive at last follow-up | 114 | 77.0 |
|
| ||
| Absent | 110 | 74.3 |
| Present | 48 | 25.7 |
|
| ||
| Absent | 98 | 66.2 |
| Present | 50 | 33.8 |
Univariate Cox regression analysis for disease-free survival (DFS), metastasis-free survival (MFS) and overall survival (OS).
| DFS | MFS | OS | ||||||||
| HR | CI |
| HR | CI |
| HR | CI |
| ||
|
| mg/L | 1.04 | 1.02–1.07 | 0.002 | 1.03 | 0.99–1.07 | 0.110 | 1.03 | 1.00–1.06 | 0.036 |
|
| ≥50 years | ref | ||||||||
| <50 years | 0.41 | 0.18–0.93 | 0.032 | 0.29 | 0.12–0.71 | 0.006 | 1.29 | 0.53–3.12 | 0.575 | |
|
| ≤2cm | ref | ||||||||
| >2cm | 2.23 | 1.00–4.98 | 0.050 | 1.76 | 0.72–4.31 | 0.216 | 2.03 | 1.03–3.99 | 0.041 | |
|
| I–II | ref | ||||||||
| III | 3.78 | 1.65–8.65 | 0.002 | 4.00 | 1.63–9.80 | 0.002 | 3.12 | 1.51–6.46 | 0.002 | |
|
| Negative | ref | ||||||||
| Positive | 0.42 | 0.16–1.12 | 0.083 | 1.05 | 0.24–4.52 | 0.950 | 0.55 | 0.23–1.34 | 0.190 | |
|
| Negative | ref | ||||||||
| Positive | 0.46 | 0.20–1.05 | 0.066 | 0.86 | 0.31–2.38 | 0.777 | 0.56 | 0.27–1.13 | 0.106 | |
|
| Negative | ref | ||||||||
| Positive | 3.29 | 1.30–8.31 | 0.012 | 4.15 | 1.59–10.81 | 0.004 | 2.22 | 0.96–5.12 | 0.061 | |
|
| Ki67≤20% | ref | ||||||||
| Ki67>20% | 2.17 | 0.96–4.93 | 0.063 | 1.70 | 0.68–4.23 | 0.253 | 1.58 | 0.78–3.20 | 0.203 | |
|
| Absent | ref | ||||||||
| Present | 1.40 | 0.60–3.27 | 0.440 | 1.86 | 0.76–4.56 | 0.173 | 1.21 | 0.59–2.50 | 0.604 | |
|
| Absent | ref | ||||||||
| Present | 1.15 | 0.50–2.62 | 0.743 | 0.82 | 0.31–2.13 | 0.682 | 1.20 | 0.60–2.39 | 0.614 | |
|
| Luminal A | ref | ||||||||
| Luminal B | 0.91 | 0.26–3.28 | 0.890 | 1.14 | 0.31–4.21 | 0.843 | 1.02 | 0.37–2.77 | 0.976 | |
| Basal-like | 3.16 | 1.00–9.97 | 0.049 | 1.79 | 0.39–8.30 | 0.457 | 2.05 | 0.68–6.14 | 0.200 | |
| HER2-like | 3.63 | 1.34–9.85 | 0.011 | 4.33 | 1.54–12.20 | 0.005 | 2.50 | 1.03–6.11 | 0.044 | |
HR: Hazard Ratio; CI: 95% Confidence Interval; Luminal A: ER+ and/or PR+, HER2−, Ki67≤20%; Luminal B: ER+ and/or PR+, HER2−, Ki67>20%; Basal-like: ER− and PR−, HER2−; HER2: ER+/−, PR+/−, HER2+.
Figure 1Association of CRP with survival in node-negative breast cancer (n = 148).
CRP dichotomized using values above upper limit normal (>5 mg/l; n = 31) shows no significant association with disease-free survival (A), metastasis-free survival (B) and overall survival (C), respectively. The numbers below the diagrams represent patients at risk at the time point indicated on the x-axis.
Multivariate Cox regression analysis for disease-free survival (DFS), metastasis-free survival (MFS) and overall survival (OS).
| DFS | MFS | OS | ||||||||
| HR | CI |
| HR | CI |
| HR | CI |
| ||
|
| mg/L | 1.03 | 1.00–1.07 | 0.033 | 1.01 | 0.98–1.05 | 0.469 | 1.03 | 1.00–1.06 | 0.023 |
|
| ≥50 years | ref | ||||||||
| <50 years | 0.41 | 0.17–1.02 | 0.055 | 0.29 | 0.11–0.75 | 0.011 | 1.56 | 0.61–4.00 | 0.352 | |
|
| ≤2cm | ref | ||||||||
| >2cm | 2.47 | 1.06–5.76 | 0.036 | 2.11 | 0.81–5.53 | 0.128 | 1.82 | 0.88–3.79 | 0.108 | |
|
| I–II | ref | ||||||||
| III | 3.07 | 0.98–9.57 | 0.054 | 2.89 | 0.83–10.09 | 0.097 | 4.67 | 1.62–13.46 | 0.004 | |
|
| Luminal A | ref | ||||||||
| Luminal B | 0.58 | 0.13–2.64 | 0.483 | 0.83 | 0.16–4.15 | 0.815 | 0.42 | 0.12–1.43 | 0.164 | |
| Basal-like | 2.13 | 0.52–8.70 | 0.290 | 1.24 | 0.21–7.36 | 0.813 | 0.80 | 0.20–3.11 | 0.742 | |
| HER2-like | 2.12 | 0.59–7.55 | 0.247 | 2.86 | 0.73–11.26 | 0.133 | 1.22 | 0.41–3.63 | 0.725 | |
HR: Hazard Ratio; CI: 95% Confidence Interval; Luminal A: ER+ and/or PR+, HER2−, Ki67≤20%; Luminal B: ER+ and/or PR+, HER2−, Ki67>20%; Basal-like: ER− and PR−, HER2−; HER2: ER+/−, PR+/−, HER2+.
Figure 2Association of CRP with clinico-pathological factors in node-negative breast cancer (n = 148).
Wilcoxon rank-sum test between pre-operative CRP level (mg/l) and age at diagnosis (A), tumor size (B), tumor grade (C), estrogen receptor status (D), progesterone receptor status (E), molecular subtypes (F), proliferation (G), inflammatory infiltrate (H) and necrosis (I) showing no significant associations.
Spearman's rank correlation between pre-operative CRP level in peripheral blood and metagene expression in the tumor tissue.
| rho |
| ||
|
| T-cell metagene | 0.063 | 0.596 |
| B-cell metagene | −0.061 | 0.611 | |
| Proliferation metagene | 0.026 | 0.828 | |
| ER metagene | 0.009 | 0.938 | |
|
| T-cell metagene | 0.140 | 0.270 |
| B-cell metagene | −0.012 | 0.925 | |
| Proliferation metagene | 0.162 | 0.201 | |
| ER metagene | −0.127 | 0.317 |