Expression of SOX4 and EZH2 in breast cancer and their clinicopathologic significance / 临床与实验病理学杂志

ABSTRACT

Purpose To explore the expression of two epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) regulators,Sry-related high mobility group box 4 (SOX4) and enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2),in breast cancer tissues and their clinicopathologic significances.Methods The expression of SOX4 and EZH2 was detected by immunohistochemistry of EnVision twostep in paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 241 cases of breast cancer and 126 cases of paracancerous breast tissues.The relationship between their expression and clinicopathologic characteristics was statistically analyzed,and their correlation was also analyzed.Results In breast cancer tissues and paracancerous breast tissues,the high expression rates of SOX4 were 82.2％ and 57.1％ respectively,while the high expression rates of EZH2 were 80.1％ and 47.6％ respectively.Their expression in breast cancer tissues was higher than that in paracancerous breast tissues (P ＜ 0.05).High SOX4 expression was correlated with lymph node metastasis,high TNM stage,and overexpression of HER-2 (P ＜ 0.05),while high EZH2 expression was correlated with high histological grade,lymph node metastasis,ER negativity,EGFR positivity and high poliferation index of Ki67 (P ＜ 0.05).There was a positive correlation between SOX4 and EZH2 expression in breast cancer tissues (rs =0.256,P ＜0.001).Conclusion EMT regulators SOX4 and EZH2 might be responsible for the metastasis of breast cancer,which are upregulated in breast cancer tissues.They may act as potential biomarkers to predict the metastasis of breast cancer.