Low Trichorhinophalangeal Syndrome 1 Gene Transcript Levels in Basal-like Breast Cancer Associate with Mesenchymal-to-epithelial Transition

Objective To investigate trichorhinophalangeal syndrome 1 gene(TRPS-1)expression patterns in different subtypes of breast cancer and its correlations with other genes and survival using microarray data sets.Methods The transcripts of TRPS-1 and its role in survival in breast cancer were analyzed using published microarray data sets—Netherlands Cancer Institute(NKI)cohort and Wang cohort.Results TRPS-1 expression was lower in basal-like breast cancer.The mRNA levels of TRPS-1negatively correlated with Slug(Pearson correlation coefficient=0.1366,P=0.0189 in NKI data set and Pearson correlation coefficient=0.1571,P=0.0078 in Wang data set),FOXC1(Pearson correlation coefficient=0.1211,P=0.0376 in NKI data set and Pearson correlation coefficient=0.1709,P=0.0037 in Wang data set),and CXCL1(Pearson correlation coefficient=0.1197,P=0.0399 in NKI data set and Pearson correlation coefficient=0.3436,P<0.0001 in Wang data set),but positively correlated with BRCA1(Pearson correlation coefficient=0.1728,P=0.0029 in NKI data set and Pearson correlation coefficient=0.1805,P=0.0022 in Wang data set).Low TRPS-1 expression associated with poor overall survival(hazard ratio 1.79,95%CI of ratio 0.9894 to 3.238,P=0.054)and relapse-free survival(hazard ratio 1.913,95%CI of ratio1.159 to 3.156,P<0.05).The low TRPS-1 mRNA levels predicted poor outcome in breast cancer patients by the 70-gene signature.Conclusion The strong expression of TRPS-1 may serve as a good prognostic marker in breast cancer.