Lin28B expression correlates with aggressive clinicopathological characteristics in breast invasive ductal carcinoma

Abstract

Lin28B is a RNA-binding protein that inhibits the let-7 microRNA family and acts as an oncogene in various human malignant diseases. Conversely, the members of let-7 family function as tumor suppressers and are often inactivated in cancers. The interaction of Lin28B/let-7 plays a crucial part of tumorigenesis. In this study, the authors examined the Lin28B expression using immunohistochemistry in 190 breast cancers and analyzed the correlation of Lin28B immunostaining and clinicopathological characteristics. Breast cancer patients previously diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinomas were enrolled in this study. All cases went through surgical procedures as the initial treatment. The characteristics of every case were collected, including tumor size, pathologic grade, metastatic lymphoid nodes, and estrogen receptor α (ERα), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER2 status. The immunostaining was scored by two independent investigators. Eighty-three (43.7%) of 190 cases showed positive expression of Lin28B. Lin28B immunostaining was increased in tumors compared with the adjacent tissues. Overexpression of Lin28B was linked to poor differentiation, advanced-stage disease, and Ki67-positive status (all p<0.05). Besides, Lin28B expression was significantly different among breast cancer subtypes. This study addresses the role of Lin28B in breast cancers and provides insight of its predictive effects in disease development.

Keywords: Ki67; Let-7; Lin28; Lin28B; breast cancer.

FIG. 1.

Lin28B expression in breast invasive ductal carcinoma by immunohistochemical staining. (A, B) Well-differentiated tumor cells scored as Lin28B (−). (D, E) Lin28B staining was scored as (+) in well-differentiated tumor cells. (G, H) Lin28B staining was scored as (++) in moderately differentiated tumor cells. (J, K) Lin28B staining was scored as (+++) in poorly differentiated tumor cells. (C, F) Benign breast disease was negative expression of Lin28B. (I, L) Breast cancer tissue in the upper left portion was scored as (++), and adjacent tissue in the lower right portion was scored as (+/−). (D, E, G–L) All presented staining in the cytoplasm. Magnification: 40× in (I), 100× in (A, C, D, G, J, and L), 400× in (B, E, F, H, and K).