Prognostic value of Ephrin A receptors in 3554 breast cancer patients: microarray data with 20 years of follow-up

Objective: Ephrin A (EphA) receptors are involved in tumorigenesis, metastasis, and angiogenesis, making them attractive candidates for new anti-cancer therapies. Here, we investigated the prognostic value of EphA receptor expression in breast cancer (BC). Methods: We analyzed EphA mRNA levels and survival information through the "Kaplan-Meier plotter" database. In total, we included 3554 breast cancer patients with a median follow-up of 20 years. A 95% confidence interval (CI) and Hazard ratio (HR) were used to assess the overall relative risk of BC outcome. Results: Our results showed that EphA1 (HR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.6-0.75, p = 6.3 x 10(-)(12)), EphA2 (HR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.7-0.89, p = 5.2 x 10(-)(5)), EphA3 (HR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.69-0.87, p = 1.7 x 10(-)(5)), EphA4 (HR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.61-0.86, p = 3 x 10(-)(4)), EphA5 (HR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.57-0.82, p = 4.3 x 10(-)(5)) EphA6 (HR = 0.8, 95% CI: 0.66-0.98, p = 0.027), EphA8 (HR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.44-0.62, p = 2.6 x 10(-)(14) ) and EphA10 (HR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.5-0.68, p = 3.6 x 10(-)(11)) were correlated with better relapse-free survival (RFS), while EphA7 (HR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.02-1.4, p = 0.031) was correlated with a worse RFS in breast cancer patients. Conclusions: Our analyisis demonstrate that profiling EphA receptor mRNA expression in BC patients has prognostic value.