Association of Fascin and matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression with poor prognostic parameters in breast carcinoma of Egyptian women

The FSCN1 gene rs2966447 variant is associated with increased serum fascin-1 levels and breast cancer susceptibility

Fascin-1 (FSCN1) is recognized as an actin-binding protein, commonly exhibits up-regulation in breast cancer (BC) and is crucial for tumor invasion and metastasis. The existence of FSCN1 gene polymorphisms may raise the potential for developing BC, and there are still no studies focusing on the relationship between the FSCN1 rs2966447 variant and BC risk in Egyptian females. Thus, we investigated the serum fascin-1 levels in BC patients and the association between the FSCN1 rs2966447 variant with its serum levels and BC susceptibility. Genotyping was conducted in 153 treatment-naïve BC females with different stages and 144 apparent healthy females by TaqMan® allelic discrimination assay, whereas serum fascin-1 level quantification was employed by ELISA. The FSCN1 rs2966447 variant demonstrated a significant association with BC susceptibility under all utilized genetic models, cancer stages and estrogen receptor negativity. Also, BC females with AT and TT genotypes had higher serum fascin-1 levels and tumor size than those with the AA genotype. Moreover, serum fascin-1 levels were significantly elevated in the BC females, notably in those with advanced-stages. Furthermore, serum fascin-1 levels were markedly positively correlated with number of positive lymph nodes as well as tumor size. Collectively, these findings revealed that the FSCN1 rs2966447 variant may be regarded as a strong candidate for BC susceptibility. Also, this intronic variant is associated with increased serum fascin-1 levels and tumor size.

The crucial role of fascin-1 in the pathogenesis, metastasis, and chemotherapeutic resistance of breast cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common type of cancer in women to be diagnosed, and it is also the second leading cause of cancer death in women globally. It is the disease that causes the most life years adjusted for disability lost among women, making it a serious worldwide health issue. Understanding and interpreting carcinogenesis and metastatic pathways is critical for curing malignancy. Fascin-1 was recognized as an actin-bundling protein with parallel, rigid bundles as a result of the cross-linking of F-actin microfilaments. Increasing levels of fascin-1 have been associated with bad prognostic profiles, aggressiveness of clinical courses, and poor survival outcomes in a variety of human malignancies. Cancer cells that overexpress fascin-1 have higher capabilities for proliferation, invasion, migration, and metastasis. Fascin-1 is being considered as a potential target for therapy as well as a potential biomarker for diagnostics in a variety of cancer types. This review aims to provide an overview of the FSCN1 gene and its protein structure, elucidate its physiological and pathological roles, and throw light on its involvement in the initiation, development, and chemotherapeutic resistance of BC.

Fascin in migration and metastasis of breast cancer cells - A review

Cancer cell migration and metastasis are the biggest problems in the treatment of cancer patients. The most aggressive breast cancer (BC) is the triple-negative type. Therefore, effective therapeutic targets that limit cell migration are sought. One such target may be fascin, as its overexpression is characteristic to triple-negative breast cancer. The high level of fascin enables the formation of protrusion and thus promotes the invasion of cancer cells. Fascin also shows co-localization or functional relationships with other proteins. These are proteins involved in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process, vimentin, cadherins, β-catenin, and matrix metalloproteinases 2/9 (MMP-2/9). Fascin is also involved in many signaling pathways protein kinase C-δ (PKCδ), Wnt/β-catenin, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt. Therefore, in this article, we review currently available in vitro studies and compare them with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data analysis of BC patients to demonstrate the role of fascin in the migration and invasion of cancer cells.

Fascin-1: Updated biological functions and therapeutic implications in cancer biology

Filopodia are cellular protrusions that respond to a variety of stimuli. Filopodia are formed when actin is bound to the protein Fascin, which may play a crucial role in cellular interactions and motility during cancer metastasis. Significantly, the noncanonical features of Fascin-1 are gradually being clarified, including the related molecular network contributing to metabolic reprogramming, chemotherapy resistance, stemness ac-tivity, and tumor microenvironment events. However, the relationship between biological characteristics and pathological features to identify effective therapeutic strategies needs to be studied further. The pur-pose of this review article is to provide a broad overview of the latest molecular networks and multiomics research regarding fascins and cancer. It also highlights their direct and indirect effects on available cancer treatments. With this multidisciplinary approach, researchers and clinicians can gain the most relevant in-formation on the function of fascins in cancer progression, which may facilitate clinical applications in the future.

Fascin actin-bundling protein 1 in human cancer: promising biomarker or therapeutic target?

Fascin actin-bundling protein 1 (FSCN1) is a highly conserved actin-bundling protein that cross links F-actin microfilaments into tight, parallel bundles. Elevated FSCN1 levels have been reported in many types of human cancers and have been correlated with aggressive clinical progression, poor prognosis, and survival outcomes. The overexpression of FSCN1 in cancer cells has been associated with tumor growth, migration, invasion, and metastasis. Currently, FSCN1 is recognized as a candidate biomarker for multiple cancer types and as a potential therapeutic target. The aim of this study was to provide a brief overview of the FSCN1 gene and protein structure and elucidate on its actin-bundling activity and physiological functions. The main focus was on the role of FSCN1 and its upregulatory mechanisms and significance in cancer cells. Up-to-date studies on FSCN1 as a novel biomarker and therapeutic target for human cancers are reviewed. It is shown that FSCN1 is an unusual biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for cancer.

A Review of Cancer Genetics and Genomics Studies in Africa

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally and is projected to overtake infectious disease as the leading cause of mortality in Africa within the next two decades. Cancer is a group of genomic diseases that presents with intra- and inter-population unique phenotypes, with Black populations having the burden of morbidity and mortality for most types. At large, the prevention and treatment of cancers have been propelled by the understanding of the genetic make-up of the disease of mostly non-African populations. By the same token, there is a wide knowledge gap in understanding the underlying genetic causes of, and genomic alterations associated with, cancer among black Africans. Accordingly, we performed a review of the literature to survey existing studies on cancer genetics/genomics and curated findings pertaining to publications across multiple cancer types conducted on African populations. We used PubMed MeSH terms to retrieve the relevant publications from 1990 to December 2019. The metadata of these publications were extracted using R text mining packages: RISmed and Pubmed.mineR. The data showed that only 0.329% of cancer publications globally were on Africa, and only 0.016% were on cancer genetics/genomics from Africa. Although the most prevalent cancers in Africa are cancers of the breast, cervix, uterus, and prostate, publications representing breast, colorectal, liver, and blood cancers were the most frequent in our review. The most frequently reported cancer genes were BRCA1, BRCA2, and TP53. Next, the genes reported in the reviewed publications’ abstracts were extracted and annotated into three gene ontology classes. Genes in the cellular component class were mostly associated with cell part and organelle part, while those in biological process and molecular function classes were mainly associated with cell process, biological regulation, and binding, and catalytic activity, respectively. Overall, this review highlights the paucity of research on cancer genomics on African populations, identified gaps, and discussed the need for concerted efforts to encourage more research on cancer genomics in Africa.

Prognostic values of tumoral MMP2 and MMP9 overexpression in breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

Breast cancer (BC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death in females worldwide. Previous studies have demonstrated that matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play key roles in metastasis and are associated with survival in various cancers. The prognostic values of MMP2 and MMP9 expression in BC have been investigated, but the results remain controversial. Thus, we performed the present meta-analysis to investigate the associations between MMP2/9 expressions in tumor cells with clinicopathologic features and survival outcome in BC patients.

Methods

Eligible studies were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, CNKI and Wanfang databases. The associations of MMP2/9 overexpression in tumor cells with overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were assessed by hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). The associations of MMP2/9 overexpression with clinicopathological features were investigated by calculating odds ratio (OR) and 95% CI. Subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, meta-regression, and analysis for publication bias were performed.

Results

A total of 41 studies comprising 6517 patients with primary BC were finally included. MMP2 overexpression was associated with an unfavorable OS (HR = 1.60, 95% CI 1.33 –1.94, P < 0.001) while MMP9 overexpression predicted a shorter OS (HR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.30 –1.77, P < 0.001). MMP2 overexpression conferred a higher risk to distant metastasis (OR = 2.69, 95% CI 1.35–5.39, P = 0.005) and MMP9 overexpression correlated with lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.90, 95% CI 1.86 – 4.53, P < 0.001). Moreover, MMP2 and MMP9 overexpression were both associated with higher clinical stage and histological grade in BC patients. MMP9 overexpression was more frequent in patients with larger tumor sizes.

Conclusions

Tumoral MMP2 and MMP9 are promising markers for predicting the prognosis in patients with BC.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-021-07860-2.

Association of matrix metalloproteinases 3 and 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms with breast cancer risk: A case-control study

Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) 3 and 9 are functionally implicated in the progression of various types of cancer, including breast cancer (BC). However, the roles of these SNPs remain controversial. In addition, they also vary between one population and another. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the possible association between MMP3-1171 5A/6A and MMP9-1562 CT SNPs and the risk of BC among Egyptians, and to elucidate the alteration of MMP3 and MMP9 gene expression in patients with BC. The present case-control study enrolled 162 patients with BC and 146 control subjects. Restriction fragment length polymorphism-PCR was performed for analysis of the selected SNPs, gene expression of MMP3 and MMP9 was also assessed in 50 patients and 50 control subjects by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. The frequencies of 5A/6A genotype and 5A allele of MMP3 were significantly higher in patients with BC compared with in healthy subjects. On the other hand, the distributions of MMP9 genotypes and alleles were not significantly different among patients and healthy subjects. Compared with healthy subjects, the expression levels of the two genes were found to be upregulated in patients with BC. Therefore, the present study indicated that MMP3-1171 5A/6A SNP, not MMP9-1562 C>T SNP may be a risk factor for developing BC among Egyptian females.

Fascin expression is inversely correlated with breast cancer metastasis suppressor 1 and predicts a worse survival outcome in node-negative breast cancer patients

Background: Fascin is an actin-bundling protein that promotes cancer cell migration and invasion. By contrast, breast cancer metastasis suppressor 1 (BRMS1) inhibits cancer metastasis by targeting multiple steps of the metastatic cascade. We evaluated whether expression patterns of fascin and BRMS1 correlate with clinicopathological features and patient outcome. Methods: Immunohistochemistry for fascin and BRMS1 was performed using a tissue microarray constructed from 183 human breast cancer tissues. Fascin expression determined by the proportion of stained tumor cells (0: 0-5%, 1: 6-25%, 2: 26-50%, 3: 51-75%, or 4: >75%) and staining intensity (0: negative, 1: weak, 2: moderate, or 3: strong) were multiplied and defined as negative (0-3) or positive (4-12). BRMS1 expression was scored separately based on nuclear and cytoplasmic staining intensity (0: negative, 1: weak, 2: moderate, 3: strong). We obtained the BRMS1 H score by summing the nuclear and cytoplasmic scores and defined it as negative (0-2) or positive (3-6). Results: Expression of BRMS1 showed a significant inverse correlation with that of fascin. Fascin+ tumors were significantly associated with no lymph node metastasis, higher histological and higher nuclear grade, ER/PR/HER2 negativity, and triple-negative subtype (all ps < 0.05). These clinicopathological differences showed the same trend in a comparison of fascin-/BRMS1+ and fascin+/BRMS1- tumors. Negative or weak BRMS1 cytoplasmic expression was significantly associated with shorter disease-free survival (DFS; p = 0.043). Fascin positivity was significantly associated with shorter DFS (p = 0.005) and overall survival (p = 0.020) when analyses were confined to node-negative patients. Conclusions: This study confirms an inverse correlation between expression of fascin and expression of BRMS1 using a quite large cohort of human breast cancer tissues. Fascin alone or combined with BRMS1 was a worse prognostic marker, particularly in node-negative breast cancer patients.

Establishing Fascin over-expression as a strategic regulator of neoplastic aggression and lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma tumor microenvironment

INTRODUCTION

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has an aggressive behaviour with high incidence of nodal metastasis, even in the early stages, leading to poor prognosis. For progression and metastasis of cancers, the dominant element considered is cell motility. Fascin, an actin-binding protein has emerged as a protein of general importance for a diverse set of cell protrusions with functions in cell adhesion, cell interactions, and cell migration. The role of Fascin in various carcinomas, including aggressive behaviour in OSCC has been documented, but its role as a key regulator in lymph nodes metastasis is yet to be validated.

AIM

This study was piloted to evaluate and correlate Fascin expression in OSCC lymph nodes and understand the role of Fascin in contemptuous Lesional tissue, as a predictor of survival. A retrospective study designed with 40 archival OSCC cases was included as sample, 20 each of both lymph node metastasis +ve (Group 1) and -ve (Group 2) groups. All the participants were smokeless tobacco user and had tumor located at gingivo-buccal complex.

RESULTS

We established that Fascin over-expression in lymph nodes were significantly associated with clinico-histopathological parameters like staging (p=0.01), tumor size (cT) (p=0.03) and differentiation; and furthermore it was highly significant in correlation to nodal status (cN) (*p≤0.001). Fascin over-expression in lymph node metastasis positive cases correlated with that of Fascin expression in contemptuous Lesional tissue signifying its role in promoting aggressive progression and metastasis. This association was found to be statistically significant (p value=0.05). Overall Survival Analysis of both lymph node metastasis +ve and -ve groups assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis (taking death and recurrence into consideration) showed patients with high Fascin expression (in lymph node and Lesional tissue) had shorter overall survival than patients who had no to weak Fascin expression.

CONCLUSION

Our findings thereby establish Fascin expression as a regulator of metastasis in OSCC tumor microenvironment and predictor of survival.

The role of FSCN1 in migration and invasion of pituitary adenomas

The prediction of invasion or malignant behavior in PAs remains challenging. FSCN1, an actin-bundling protein, is associated with increased risk of mortality and metastasis in various cancer types. The objective of the study was to evaluate the expression of FSCN1 in 312 PAs cases, and to analyze its association with clinicopathologic features and invasion of PAs, thus serving as a promoter of cancer invasion. In non-function PAs (NFPA), FSCN1 nuclear-positive cases were 53/97 in the invasive group (IPA), and 21/115 in the noninvasive group (nIPA) (ⅹ(2) = 30.65, p = 0.004). FSCN1 cytoplasm-positive cases were 36/97 in IPA, and 8/107 in nIPA (ⅹ(2) = 29.09, p = 0.000). In growth hormone adenomas (GHomas), FSCN1 nuclear-positive were 10/13 in IPA, and 3/37 in nIPA (ⅹ(2) = 23.67, p = 0.000). FSCN1 cytoplasm-positive were 8/13 in IPA, and 2/37 in nIPA (Table 3 ⅹ(2) = 18.94, p = 0.000). Overall, a significant difference was found between FSCN1 expression and tumor size (ⅹ(2) = 46.21, p = 0.000), not age (ⅹ(2) = 2.09, p = 0.148). In the high FSCN1 expression group, 27/137 cases (19.7%) had tumor recurrence, and 10/175 cases (5.7%) in low FSCN1 level (ⅹ(2) = 14.40 p = 0.000). Reduction of FSCN1 suppressed the invasion level of GH3 cells through transwells test. In addition, reduction of FSCN1 can obviously down-regulate the level of Notch1 and DLL3. Our data may help in deciding whether FSCN1 can be a predictor for invasion and recurrence of PAs.

Breast Cancer Invasion and Metastasis by mPRα Through the PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway

Invasive breast cancer is the most common type of malignancy in women worldwide. However, the mechanism responsible for breast cancer metastasis is still unclear and needs further illustration. It has been proven that matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP-9) promotes metastasis of the cancer cells. However, the interaction between mPRα and MMP-9 has not been studied. Therefore, in the present research, the effect of MMP-9 on the malignant progression of invasive breast cancer promoted by membrane progesterone receptorα (mPRα) was investigated. The results showed that the protein expression of mPRα, p-Akt and MMP-9 increased in the cancerous tissues compared to that of the noncancerous breast tissue. Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between mPRα and C-erbB-2, as well as the number of involved local lymph nodes. On the other hand, a negative correlation was observed between mPRα and estrogen receptors (ER) along with progesterone receptors (PR). Similarly, a positive association was found between MMP-9 and the number of involved local lymph nodes. Besides, the high expression of MMP-9 also had a positive correlation with the tumor size. However, the high level of MMP-9 had a negative correlation with ER and PR. In addition, there was a positive correlation between mPRα and p-Akt together with MMP-9. The results confirm that mPRα was a major marker of harmful prognosis and it promoted the expression of MMP-9 during invasion to the local lymph nodes through the pathway of PI3K/Akt. The present study provided a novel therapeutic strategy to inhibit breast cancer growth by preventing mPRα signaling pathway.

Serum Dickkopf-1 expression level positively correlates with a poor prognosis in breast cancer

BACKGROUND

The different expression level of Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) in different cancers shows that the function of DKK-1 depends on the histological type of the cancer cells and the tissue microenvironment. To our knowledge, the serum expression level of DKK-1 in breast cancer is little known.

METHODS

Blood samples from 125 consecutive patients diagnosed with breast cancer and 53 control subjects from March 2008 to August 2013 were investigated. Serum DKK-1 expression levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) analyzed by log-rank test, and survival curves were plotted according to Kaplan-Meier.

RESULTS

The mean serum level of DKK-1 in patients with breast cancer was 4.99 ± 1.50 ng/mL, and was significantly higher than that in healthy individuals (1.88 ± 0.81 ng/mL, P < 0.001). DKK-1 level correlated significantly with TNM stage (P = 0.009), tumor grade (P = 0.02), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001), and expression of HER2 (P = 0.002). The DKK-1 expression level was classified as high or low in relation to the median value, and patients with breast cancer (n = 125) were divided into a high expression group (n = 63) and a low expression group (n = 62). The Kaplan-Meier method for survival analysis showed that the patients with a high serum DKK-1 level had a poorer OS (48.7% vs. 81.3%, p = 0.01) and RFS (24.3% vs. 71.6%, p = 0.003) than those with a low expression level. The multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that serum DKK-1 level was independent prognostic factors for OS and RFS.

CONCLUSIONS

Serum DKK-1 level can be used as a noninvasive biomarker for the prognosis of breast cancer.

VIRTUAL SLIDES

The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/13000_2014_161.