Abstract:

Objective · To investigate the expression of CD147 and its clinical significance in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tissues and analyze the association between CD147 expression and the prognosis. Methods · Clinicopathological and follow-up data of 110 patients with TNBC were collected. The immunohistochemical assay was performed for CD147 and the association of CD147 expression with clinicopathological characteristics and the prognosis was analyzed. Results · The positive expression rate of CD147 in TNBC tissues was 81.82% (90/110). CD147 expression was positively correlated to histological grade, high expression of Ki-67, and positive expression of p53 (P=0.000, 0.047, and 0.046, respectively) and was not significantly correlated to age, tumor size, and axillary lymph node metastasis (P>0.05). Survival analysis showed that CD147 expression intensity was associated with overall survival and disease-free survival (P=0.024 and 0.001, respectively). Multivariate regression analysis indicated that CD147 and Ki67 were risk factors for the prognosis of TNBC. The higher the positive expression rates were, the shorter the survival was. Conclusion · CD147 is highly expressed in TNBC tissues and is closely associated with the prognosis. It can be used as an independent factor for predicting the prognosis of TNBC. Clinical application of CD147 antibody may be an important target therapy for TNBC in the future.

Key words:  CD147, triple-negative breast cancer, immunohistochemistry, prognosis