Open Access

High expression levels of centromere protein A plus upregulation of the phosphatidylinositol 3‑kinase/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway affect chemotherapy response and prognosis in patients with breast cancer

  • Authors:
    • Songbo Zhang
    • Yanyan Xie
    • Ting Tian
    • Qianru Yang
    • Yuting Zhou
    • Juanjuan Qiu
    • Li Xu
    • Nan Wen
    • Qing Lv
    • Zhenggui Du
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: March 22, 2021     https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2021.12671
  • Article Number: 410
  • Copyright: © Zhang 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

Centromere proteins (CENPs) are involved in mitosis, and CENP gene expression levels are associated with chemotherapy responses in patients with breast cancer. The present study aimed to examine the roles and underlying mechanisms of the effects of CENP genes on chemotherapy responses and breast cancer prognosis. Using data obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, correlation and Cox multivariate regression analyses were used to determine the CENP genes associated with chemotherapy responses and survival in patients with breast cancer. Weighted gene co‑expression network and correlation analyses were used to determine the gene modules co‑expressed with the identified genes and the differential expression of gene modules associated with the pathological complete response (PCR) and residual disease (RD) subgroups. CENPA, CENPE, CENPF, CENPI, CENPJ and CENPN were associated with a high nuclear grade and low estrogen and progesterone receptor expression levels. In addition, CENPA, CENPB, CENPC and CENPO were independent factors affecting the distant relapse‑free survival (DRFS) rates in patients with breast cancer. Patients with high expression levels of CENPA or CENPO exhibited poor prognoses, whereas those with high expression levels of CENPB or CENPC presented with favorable prognoses. For validation between databases, the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database analysis also revealed that CENPA, CENPB and CENPO exerted similar effects on overall survival. However, according to the multivariate analyses, only CENPA was an independent risk factor associated with DRFS in GEO database. In addition, in the RD subgroup, patients with higher CENPA expression levels had a worse prognosis compared with those with lower CENPA expression levels. Among patients with high expression levels of CENPA, the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway was more likely to be activated in the RD compared with the PCR subgroup. The same trend was observed in TCGA data. These results suggested that high CENPA expression levels plus upregulation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway may affect DRFS in patients with breast cancer.
View Figures
View References

Related Articles

Journal Cover

May-2021
Volume 21 Issue 5

Print ISSN: 1792-1074
Online ISSN:1792-1082

Sign up for eToc alerts

Recommend to Library

Copy and paste a formatted citation
x
Spandidos Publications style
Zhang S, Xie Y, Tian T, Yang Q, Zhou Y, Qiu J, Xu L, Wen N, Lv Q, Du Z, Du Z, et al: High expression levels of centromere protein A plus upregulation of the phosphatidylinositol 3‑kinase/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway affect chemotherapy response and prognosis in patients with breast cancer. Oncol Lett 21: 410, 2021
APA
Zhang, S., Xie, Y., Tian, T., Yang, Q., Zhou, Y., Qiu, J. ... Du, Z. (2021). High expression levels of centromere protein A plus upregulation of the phosphatidylinositol 3‑kinase/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway affect chemotherapy response and prognosis in patients with breast cancer. Oncology Letters, 21, 410. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2021.12671
MLA
Zhang, S., Xie, Y., Tian, T., Yang, Q., Zhou, Y., Qiu, J., Xu, L., Wen, N., Lv, Q., Du, Z."High expression levels of centromere protein A plus upregulation of the phosphatidylinositol 3‑kinase/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway affect chemotherapy response and prognosis in patients with breast cancer". Oncology Letters 21.5 (2021): 410.
Chicago
Zhang, S., Xie, Y., Tian, T., Yang, Q., Zhou, Y., Qiu, J., Xu, L., Wen, N., Lv, Q., Du, Z."High expression levels of centromere protein A plus upregulation of the phosphatidylinositol 3‑kinase/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway affect chemotherapy response and prognosis in patients with breast cancer". Oncology Letters 21, no. 5 (2021): 410. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2021.12671