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Published in: BMC Cancer 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Breast Cancer | Research article

Expression of RET is associated with Oestrogen receptor expression but lacks prognostic significance in breast cancer

Authors: Robert Mechera, Savas D. Soysal, Salvatore Piscuoglio, Charlotte K. Y. Ng, Jasmin Zeindler, Edin Mujagic, Silvio Däster, Philippe Glauser, Henry Hoffmann, Ergin Kilic, Raoul A. Droeser, Walter P. Weber, Simone Muenst

Published in: BMC Cancer | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

Background

The Rearranged during Transfection (RET) protein is overexpressed in a subset of Estrogen Receptor (ER) positive breast cancer, with both signalling pathways functionally interacting. This cross-talk plays a pivotal role in the resistance of breast cancer cells to anti-endocrine therapies, and RET expression is assumed to correlate with poor prognosis based on findings in small patient cohorts. The aim of our study was to investigate the impact of RET expression on patient outcome in human breast cancer.

Methods

We performed an immunohistochemical analysis of RET protein expression on a tissue microarray encompassing 990 breast cancer patients and correlated its expression with clinicopathological parameters and survival data.

Results

Expression of RET was detected in 409 out of 990 cases (41.3%). RET and ER expression significantly correlated (p < 0.0001). The Luminal B HER2-positive subtype showed the highest expression rate (48.9%). In univariate and multivariate survival analyses, RET expression had no impact on overall survival.

Conclusion

We confirmed the co-expression of RET and ER, but we did not find RET expression to be an independent prognostic factor in human breast cancer. Clinical trials with newly developed RET inhibitors are needed to evaluate if RET inhibition has a beneficial impact on patient survival in ER positive breast cancer.
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Metadata
Title
Expression of RET is associated with Oestrogen receptor expression but lacks prognostic significance in breast cancer
Authors
Robert Mechera
Savas D. Soysal
Salvatore Piscuoglio
Charlotte K. Y. Ng
Jasmin Zeindler
Edin Mujagic
Silvio Däster
Philippe Glauser
Henry Hoffmann
Ergin Kilic
Raoul A. Droeser
Walter P. Weber
Simone Muenst
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Cancer / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2407
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-018-5262-0

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