Research Papers:
The localization of HER4 intracellular domain and expression of its alternately-spliced isoforms have prognostic significance in ER+ HER2- breast cancer
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Abstract
Saori Fujiwara1,*, Mutsuko Yamamoto-Ibusuki1,*, Yutaka Yamamoto1,2, Satoko Yamamoto1, Mai Tomiguchi1, Takashi Takeshita1, Mitsuhiro Hayashi1, Aiko Sueta1,2, and Hirotaka Iwase1
1 Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, 1-1-1 Honjo, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan
2 Department of Molecular Targeting Therapy for Breast Cancer, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, 1-1-1 Honjo, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan
* These Authors are equally contributed to this work
Correspondence:
Hirotaka Iwase, email:
Keywords: HER4, 4ICD, Splicing variants, Breast cancer, Endocrine therapy, Prognosis
Received: February 20, 2014 Accepted: May 27, 2014 Published: May 28, 2014
Abstract
Human epidermal growth factor receptors (HERs) are known to play a pivotal role in breast cancer, both as prognostic markers and as therapeutic targets. The importance of Her4 expression is, however, still controversially discussed; there are few reports on the clinical significance of HER4, its splice variants, and cleaved HER4 intracellular domains (4ICD) which function differently depending on their localization in breast cancer. In 238 primary invasive breast cancer patients, we analyzed the expression levels of HER4 extracellular (JM-a and JM-b) and intracellular (CYT-1 and CYT-2) domains as well as 4ICD localization, and tested the relationship with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis. The predominantly-expressed extracellular domain was JM-a, and lower CYT-2 dominance was a factor related to better relapse-free survival. CYT-2-dominance with higher nuclear 4ICD expression was a favorable prognostic marker especially in patients with the ER+ HER2- subtype treated with endocrine therapy. The absence of cytoplasmic 4ICD staining was related to better prognosis in CYT-1-dominant patients. In conclusion, analysis of splicing variants and 4ICD localization should be considered when targeting HER4 as a novel ER+/HER2- breast cancer treatment.
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PII: 2002