Open Access

High mitochondrial content is associated with breast cancer aggressiveness

  • Authors:
    • Patrick Lebok
    • Katharina Schütt
    • Martina Kluth
    • Isabell Witzel
    • Linn Wölber
    • Peter Paluchowski
    • Luigi Terracciano
    • Christian Wilke
    • Uwe Heilenkötter
    • Volkmar Müller
    • Barbara Schmalfeldt
    • Ronald Simon
    • Guido Sauter
    • Ingo Von Leffern
    • Till Krech
    • Rainer Horst Krech
    • Frank Jacobsen
    • Eike Burandt
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: August 8, 2021     https://doi.org/10.3892/mco.2021.2365
  • Article Number: 203
  • Copyright: © Lebok et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

Metrics: Total Views: 0 (Spandidos Publications: | PMC Statistics: )
Total PDF Downloads: 0 (Spandidos Publications: | PMC Statistics: )


Abstract

Mitochondria are relevant for cancer initiation and progression. Antibodies against mitochondrially encoded cytochrome c oxidase II (MTCO2), targeting a mitochondria specific epitope, can be used to quantitate the mitochondria content of tumor cells. The present study evaluated the impact of the cellular mitochondrial content on the prognosis of patients with breast cancer using immunohistochemical analysis on 2,197 arrayed breast cancer specimens. Results were compared with histological tumor parameters, patient overall survival, tumor cell proliferation using Ki67 labeling index (Ki67LI) and various other molecular features. Tumor cells exhibited stronger MTCO2 expression than normal breast epithelial cells. MTCO2 immunostaining was largely absent in normal breast epithelium, but was observed in 71.9% of 1,797 analyzable cancer specimens, including 34.6% tumors with weak expression, 22.3% with moderate expression and 15.0% with strong expression. High MTCO2 expression was significantly associated with advanced tumor stage, high Bloom‑Richardson‑Elston/Nottingham (BRE) grade, nodal metastasis and shorter overall survival (P<0.0001 each). In multivariate analysis, MTCO2 expression did not provide prognostic information independent of BRE grade, pathological tumor and pathological lymph node status. Additionally, significant associations were observed for high MTCO2 expression and various molecular features, including high Ki67LI, amplifications of HER2, MYC, CCND1 and MDM2, deletions of PTEN, 8p21 and 9p, low estrogen receptor expression (P<0.0001 each) and progesterone receptor expression (P<0.0001). The present study demonstrated that high MTCO2 expression was strongly associated with a poor prognosis and unfavorable phenotypical and molecular tumor features in patients with breast cancer. This suggests that the mitochondrial content may have a pivotal role in breast cancer progression.
View Figures
View References

Related Articles

Journal Cover

October-2021
Volume 15 Issue 4

Print ISSN: 2049-9450
Online ISSN:2049-9469

Sign up for eToc alerts

Recommend to Library

Copy and paste a formatted citation
x
Spandidos Publications style
Lebok P, Schütt K, Kluth M, Witzel I, Wölber L, Paluchowski P, Terracciano L, Wilke C, Heilenkötter U, Müller V, Müller V, et al: High mitochondrial content is associated with breast cancer aggressiveness. Mol Clin Oncol 15: 203, 2021
APA
Lebok, P., Schütt, K., Kluth, M., Witzel, I., Wölber, L., Paluchowski, P. ... Burandt, E. (2021). High mitochondrial content is associated with breast cancer aggressiveness. Molecular and Clinical Oncology, 15, 203. https://doi.org/10.3892/mco.2021.2365
MLA
Lebok, P., Schütt, K., Kluth, M., Witzel, I., Wölber, L., Paluchowski, P., Terracciano, L., Wilke, C., Heilenkötter, U., Müller, V., Schmalfeldt, B., Simon, R., Sauter, G., Von Leffern, I., Krech, T., Krech, R. H., Jacobsen, F., Burandt, E."High mitochondrial content is associated with breast cancer aggressiveness". Molecular and Clinical Oncology 15.4 (2021): 203.
Chicago
Lebok, P., Schütt, K., Kluth, M., Witzel, I., Wölber, L., Paluchowski, P., Terracciano, L., Wilke, C., Heilenkötter, U., Müller, V., Schmalfeldt, B., Simon, R., Sauter, G., Von Leffern, I., Krech, T., Krech, R. H., Jacobsen, F., Burandt, E."High mitochondrial content is associated with breast cancer aggressiveness". Molecular and Clinical Oncology 15, no. 4 (2021): 203. https://doi.org/10.3892/mco.2021.2365