OCT4 Expression and Vasculogenic Mimicry Formation Positively Correlate with Poor Prognosis in Human Breast Cancer

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Tieju Liu¹  Baocun Sun¹  Xiulan Zhao¹  Yanlei Li¹  Qiang Gu¹  Xueyi Dong¹  Fang Liu¹ 

[1] Department of Pathology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China; E-Mails:

关键词: OCT4;    vasculogenic mimicry;    breast cancer;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms151119634

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

To evaluate the prognostic value of OCT4 expression and vasculogenic mimicry (VM) in human breast cancer, we examined OCT4 expression and VM formation using immunohistochemistry and CD31/PAS (periodic acid-schiff) double staining on 90 breast cancer specimens. All patients were followed up for five–149 months following surgery. Survival curves were generated using Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate analysis was performed using Cox regression model to assess the prognostic values. Results showed positive correlation between OCT4 expression and VM formation (p < 0.05). Both OCT4 expression and VM were also positively correlated with lymph node metastasis, higher histological grade, and Nottingham prognostic index (p < 0.05). Patients with OCT4 expression or VM formation exhibited poorer overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) than OCT4-negative or VM-negative patients (p < 0.05). OCT4-positive/VM-positive patients also had the worst OS and DFS (p < 0.05). In multivariate survival analysis, VM, Nottingham prognostic index (NPI), and Her2 were independent prognostic factors related to OS and OCT4-positive/VM-positive patients, whereas NPI and Her2 were independent predictors of DFS. These results suggest that a combined OCT4 expression/VM could improve the prognostic judgment for breast cancer patients.

【 授权许可】

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© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.