Implications of the Notch1-Snail/Slug-epithelial to mesenchymal transition axis for lymph node metastasis in infiltrating ductal carcinoma.

Emerging evidence suggests that activation of the Notch1 signaling pathway inducing epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) mediated by Snail/Slug promotes invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells in vitro. However, the implication of the Notch1-Snail/Slug-EMT axis in breast cancer patients remains unclear. A total of 200 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples of invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), and 37 adjacent non-neoplastic tissue (ANNT) samples from patients who had not been treated with neoadjuvant therapy were examined. Expression of Notch1, Slug, Snail, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and vimentin was determined by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays (TMAs). The correlation between protein expression and clinicopathological characteristics of breast cancer patients was also evaluated. Results showed that a significantly high percentage of cases with high expression of Notch1 (74%, 148/200), Slug (36%, 72/200), Snail (62%, 124/200), and N-cadherin (77%, 153/200) and a low percentage of cases with high expression of E-cadherin (27%, 54/200) were observed in IDC compared to those in ANNTs. High Notch1, Slug, Snail, and N-cadherin expression and low E-cadherin expression in patients with IDC were significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis. In addition, correlation analysis results revealed that high Notch1 expression was significantly associated with high Slug, Snail, and N-cadherin expression and low E-cadherin expression in IDC. Furthermore, a high Snail expression was significantly associated with low E-cadherin expression, and a high Slug expression was found to be significantly associated with increased N-cadherin expression in patients with IDC. Hence, our study suggested that the Notch1-Snail/Slug-EMT axis may be implicated in the lymph node metastasis affecting patients with IDC.

Cao YW ，Wan GX ，Sun JP ，Cui XB ，Hu JM ，Liang WH ，Zheng YQ ，Li WQ ，Li F ... -  《-》

Dysregulated expression of Slug, vimentin, and E-cadherin correlates with poor clinical outcome in patients with basal-like breast cancer.

Among the different types of breast cancer, basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) has an extremely poor prognosis due to its high rate of recurrence and metastasis. The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between the expression of Slug, E-cadherin, and vimentin, and the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with BLBC. We further inferred from these findings whether Slug leads to a poor prognosis in patients with BLBC through epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Immunohistochemistry was performed for 441 patients with breast cancer to determine the expression levels of Slug, E-cadherin, and vimentin. The correlation between protein expression and clinicopathological characteristics of patients with BLBC was evaluated, and these patients were followed up to determine survival rate. High Slug and low E-cadherin expression in BLBC patients closely correlated with histological grade, lymph node metastasis, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, and lymphatic vessel metastasis. Survival analysis revealed that the poor prognosis of BLBC is associated with TNM stage, high Slug and vimentin expression, and low E-cadherin levels. High Slug expression is closely correlated with poor prognosis in patients with BLBC. We speculate that this may be attributed to the involvement of Slug in the EMT of BLBC.

Liu T ，Zhang X ，Shang M ，Zhang Y ，Xia B ，Niu M ，Liu Y ，Pang D ... -  《-》

Notch1 signaling regulates the epithelial-mesenchymal transition and invasion of breast cancer in a Slug-dependent manner.

Shao S ，Zhao X ，Zhang X ，Luo M ，Zuo X ，Huang S ，Wang Y ，Gu S ，Zhao X ... -  《Molecular Cancer》

Co-expression of SNAIL and TWIST determines prognosis in estrogen receptor-positive early breast cancer patients.

van Nes JG ，de Kruijf EM ，Putter H ，Faratian D ，Munro A ，Campbell F ，Smit VT ，Liefers GJ ，Kuppen PJ ，van de Velde CJ ，Bartlett JM ... -  《-》

Expression of E-cadherin, Snail and Hakai in epithelial cells isolated from the primary tumor and from peritumoral tissue of invasive ductal breast carcinomas.

Makdissi FB ，Machado LV ，Oliveira AG ，Benvenuti TT ，Katayama ML ，Brentani MM ，Osório CA ，Mourão Netto M ，Lyra EC ，Carvalho F ，Góes JC ，Folgueira MA ... -  《-》