Dorthe Grabau

The CD44+/CD24- phenotype is enriched in basal-like breast tumors

IntroductionHuman breast tumors are heterogeneous and consist of phenotypically diverse cells. Breast cancer cells with a CD44+/CD24- phenotype have been suggested to have tumor-initiating properties with stem cell-like and invasive features, although it is unclear whether their presence within a tumor has clinical implications. There is also a large heterogeneity between tumors, illustrated by reproducible stratification into various subtypes based on gene expression profiles or histopathological features. We have explored the prevalence of cells with different CD44/CD24 phenotypes within breast cancer subtypes.MethodsDouble-staining immunohistochemistry was used to quantify CD44 and CD24 expression in 240 human breast tumors for which information on other tumor markers and clinical characteristics was available. Gene expression data were also accessible for a cohort of the material.ResultsA considerable heterogeneity in CD44 and CD24 expression was seen both between and within tumors. A complete lack of both proteins was evident in 35% of the tumors, while 13% contained cells of more than one of the CD44+/CD24-, CD44-/CD24+ and CD44+/CD24+ phenotypes. CD44+/CD24- cells were detected in 31% of the tumors, ranging in proportion from only a few to close to 100% of tumor cells. The CD44+/CD24- phenotype was most common in the basal-like subgroup – characterized as negative for the estrogen and progesterone receptors as well as for HER2, and as positive for cytokeratin 5/14 and/or epidermal growth factor receptor, and particularly common in BRCA1 hereditary tumors, of which 94% contained CD44+/CD24- cells. The CD44+/CD24- phenotype was surprisingly scarce in HER2+ tumors, which had a predominantly CD24+ status. A CD44+/CD24- gene expression signature was generated, which included CD44 and α6-integrin (CD49f) among the top-ranked overexpressed genes.ConclusionWe demonstrate an association between basal-like and particularly BRCA1 hereditary breast cancer and the presence of CD44+/CD24- cells. Not all basal-like tumors and very few HER2+ tumors, however, contain CD44+/CD24- cells, emphasizing that a putative tumorigenic ability may not be confined to cells of this phenotype and that other breast cancer stem cell markers remain to be identified.

Serial monitoring of circulating tumor DNA in patients with primary breast cancer for detection of occult metastatic disease.

Metastatic breast cancer is usually diagnosed after becoming symptomatic, at which point it is rarely curable. Cell‐free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) contains tumor‐specific chromosomal rearrangements that may be interrogated in blood plasma. We evaluated serial monitoring of ctDNA for earlier detection of metastasis in a retrospective study of 20 patients diagnosed with primary breast cancer and long follow‐up. Using an approach combining low‐coverage whole‐genome sequencing of primary tumors and quantification of tumor‐specific rearrangements in plasma by droplet digital PCR, we identify for the first time that ctDNA monitoring is highly accurate for postsurgical discrimination between patients with (93%) and without (100%) eventual clinically detected recurrence. ctDNA‐based detection preceded clinical detection of metastasis in 86% of patients with an average lead time of 11 months (range 0–37 months), whereas patients with long‐term disease‐free survival had undetectable ctDNA postoperatively. ctDNA quantity was predictive of poor survival. These findings establish the rationale for larger validation studies in early breast cancer to evaluate ctDNA as a monitoring tool for early metastasis detection, therapy modification, and to aid in avoidance of overtreatment.

Identification of Subtypes in Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2–Positive Breast Cancer Reveals a Gene Signature Prognostic of Outcome

PURPOSE Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) gene amplification or protein overexpression (HER2 positivity) defines a clinically challenging subgroup of patients with breast cancer (BC) with variable prognosis and response to therapy. We aimed to investigate the heterogeneous biologic appearance and clinical behavior of HER2-positive tumors using molecular profiling. PATIENTS AND METHODS Hierarchical clustering of gene expression data from 58 HER2-amplified tumors of various stage, histologic grade, and estrogen receptor (ER) status was used to construct a HER2-derived prognostic predictor that was further evaluated in several large independent BC data sets. RESULTS Unsupervised analysis identified three subtypes of HER2-positive tumors with mixed stage, histologic grade, and ER status. One subtype had a significantly worse clinical outcome. A prognostic predictor was created based on differentially expressed genes between the subtype with worse outcome and the other subtypes. The predictor was able to define patient groups with better and worse outcome in HER2-positive BC across multiple independent BC data sets and identify a sizable HER2-positive group with long disease-free survival and low mortality. Significant correlation to prognosis was also observed in basal-like, ER-negative, lymph node-positive, and high-grade tumors, irrespective of HER2 status. The predictor included genes associated with immune response, tumor invasion, and metastasis. CONCLUSION The HER2-derived prognostic predictor provides further insight into the heterogeneous biology of HER2-positive tumors and may become useful for improved selection of patients who need additional treatment with new drugs targeting the HER2 pathway.

CD44 isoforms are heterogeneously expressed in breast cancer and correlate with tumor subtypes and cancer stem cell markers

BackgroundThe CD44 cell adhesion molecule is aberrantly expressed in many breast tumors and has been implicated in the metastatic process as well as in the putative cancer stem cell (CSC) compartment. We aimed to investigate potential associations between alternatively spliced isoforms of CD44 and CSCs as well as to various breast cancer biomarkers and molecular subtypes.MethodsWe used q-RT-PCR and exon-exon spanning assays to analyze the expression of four alternatively spliced CD44 isoforms as well as the total expression of CD44 in 187 breast tumors and 13 cell lines. ALDH1 protein expression was determined by IHC on TMA.ResultsBreast cancer cell lines showed a heterogeneous expression pattern of the CD44 isoforms, which shifted considerably when cells were grown as mammospheres. Tumors characterized as positive for the CD44+/CD24- phenotype by immunohistochemistry were associated to all isoforms except the CD44 standard (CD44S) isoform, which lacks all variant exons. Conversely, tumors with strong expression of the CSC marker ALDH1 had elevated expression of CD44S. A high expression of the CD44v2-v10 isoform, which retain all variant exons, was correlated to positive steroid receptor status, low proliferation and luminal A subtype. The CD44v3-v10 isoform showed similar correlations, while high expression of CD44v8-v10 was correlated to positive EGFR, negative/low HER2 status and basal-like subtype. High expression of CD44S was associated with strong HER2 staining and also a subgroup of basal-like tumors. Unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis of CD44 isoform expression data divided tumors into four main clusters, which showed significant correlations to molecular subtypes and differences in 10-year overall survival.ConclusionsWe demonstrate that individual CD44 isoforms can be associated to different breast cancer subtypes and clinical markers such as HER2, ER and PgR, which suggests involvement of CD44 splice variants in specific oncogenic signaling pathways. Efforts to link CD44 to CSCs and tumor progression should consider the expression of various CD44 isoforms.

High-resolution genomic and expression analyses of copy number alterations in HER2-amplified breast cancer

IntroductionHER2 gene amplification and protein overexpression (HER2+) define a clinically challenging subgroup of breast cancer with variable prognosis and response to therapy. Although gene expression profiling has identified an ERBB2 molecular subtype of breast cancer, it is clear that HER2+ tumors reside in all molecular subtypes and represent a genomically and biologically heterogeneous group, needed to be further characterized in large sample sets.MethodsGenome-wide DNA copy number profiling, using bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH), and global gene expression profiling were performed on 200 and 87 HER2+ tumors, respectively. Genomic Identification of Significant Targets in Cancer (GISTIC) was used to identify significant copy number alterations (CNAs) in HER2+ tumors, which were related to a set of 554 non-HER2 amplified (HER2-) breast tumors. High-resolution oligonucleotide aCGH was used to delineate the 17q12-q21 region in high detail.ResultsThe HER2-amplicon was narrowed to an 85.92 kbp region including the TCAP, PNMT, PERLD1, HER2, C17orf37 and GRB7 genes, and higher HER2 copy numbers indicated worse prognosis. In 31% of HER2+ tumors the amplicon extended to TOP2A, defining a subgroup of HER2+ breast cancer associated with estrogen receptor-positive status and with a trend of better survival than HER2+ breast cancers with deleted (18%) or neutral TOP2A (51%). HER2+ tumors were clearly distinguished from HER2- tumors by the presence of recurrent high-level amplifications and firestorm patterns on chromosome 17q. While there was no significant difference between HER2+ and HER2- tumors regarding the incidence of other recurrent high-level amplifications, differences in the co-amplification pattern were observed, as shown by the almost mutually exclusive occurrence of 8p12, 11q13 and 20q13 amplification in HER2+ tumors. GISTIC analysis identified 117 significant CNAs across all autosomes. Supervised analyses revealed: (1) significant CNAs separating HER2+ tumors stratified by clinical variables, and (2) CNAs separating HER2+ from HER2- tumors.ConclusionsWe have performed a comprehensive survey of CNAs in HER2+ breast tumors, pinpointing significant genomic alterations including both known and potentially novel therapeutic targets. Our analysis sheds further light on the genomically complex and heterogeneous nature of HER2+ tumors in relation to other subgroups of breast cancer.

An international study to increase concordance in Ki67 scoring

Although an important biomarker in breast cancer, Ki67 lacks scoring standardization, which has limited its clinical use. Our previous study found variability when laboratories used their own scoring methods on centrally stained tissue microarray slides. In this current study, 16 laboratories from eight countries calibrated to a specific Ki67 scoring method and then scored 50 centrally MIB-1 stained tissue microarray cases. Simple instructions prescribed scoring pattern and staining thresholds for determination of the percentage of stained tumor cells. To calibrate, laboratories scored 18 ‘training’ and ‘test’ web-based images. Software tracked object selection and scoring. Success for the calibration was prespecified as Root Mean Square Error of scores compared with reference <0.6 and Maximum Absolute Deviation from reference <1.0 (log2-transformed data). Prespecified success criteria for tissue microarray scoring required intraclass correlation significantly >0.70 but aiming for observed intraclass correlation ≥0.90. Laboratory performance showed non-significant but promising trends of improvement through the calibration exercise (mean Root Mean Square Error decreased from 0.6 to 0.4, Maximum Absolute Deviation from 1.6 to 0.9; paired t-test: P=0.07 for Root Mean Square Error, 0.06 for Maximum Absolute Deviation). For tissue microarray scoring, the intraclass correlation estimate was 0.94 (95% credible interval: 0.90–0.97), markedly and significantly >0.70, the prespecified minimum target for success. Some discrepancies persisted, including around clinically relevant cutoffs. After calibrating to a common scoring method via a web-based tool, laboratories can achieve high inter-laboratory reproducibility in Ki67 scoring on centrally stained tissue microarray slides. Although these data are potentially encouraging, suggesting that it may be possible to standardize scoring of Ki67 among pathology laboratories, clinically important discrepancies persist. Before this biomarker could be recommended for clinical use, future research will need to extend this approach to biopsies and whole sections, account for staining variability, and link to outcomes.

Global H3K27 trimethylation and EZH2 abundance in breast tumor subtypes.

Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) and its core member enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) mediate the epigenetic gene silencing mark: trimethylation of lysine 27 on histone 3 (H3K27me3). H3K27me3 is characteristic of the chromatin at genes involved in developmental regulation in undifferentiated cells. Overexpression of EZH2 has been found in several cancer types such as breast, prostate, melanoma and bladder cancer. Moreover, overexpression is associated with highly proliferative and aggressive types of breast and prostate tumors. We have analyzed the abundance of EZH2 and H3K27me3 using immunohistochemistry in two large and well‐characterized breast tumor data sets encompassing more than 400 tumors. The results have been analyzed in relation to the molecular subtypes of breast tumors (basal‐like, luminal A, luminal B, HER2‐enriched and normal‐like), as well as in subtypes defined by clinical markers (triple negative, ER+/HER2−/Ki67low, ER+/HER2−/Ki67high and HER2+), and were validated in representative breast cancer cell lines by western blot. We found significantly different expression of both EZH2 and H3K27me3 across all subtypes with high abundance of EZH2 in basal‐like, triple negative and HER2‐enriched tumors, and high H3K27me3 in luminal A, HER2‐enriched and normal‐like tumors. Intriguingly, the two markers show an inverse correlation, particularly for the basal‐like and triple negative tumors. Consequently, high expression of EZH2 was associated with poor distant disease‐free survival whereas high expression of H3K27me3 was associated with better survival. Additionally, none of 182 breast tumors was found to carry a previously described EZH2 mutation affecting Tyr641. Our observation that increased expression of EZH2 does not necessarily correlate with increased abundance of H3K27me3 supports the idea that EZH2 can have effects beyond epigenetic silencing of target genes in breast cancer.

The prognostic value of Ki67 is dependent on estrogen receptor status and histological grade in premenopausal patients with node-negative breast cancer.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of Ki67 in relation to established prognostic factors in lymph node-negative breast cancer, and furthermore, whether the prognostic impact was dependent on estrogen receptor (ER) status and histological grade. In 200 premenopausal patients, with 5 years of follow-up, Ki67 was determined on tissue microarrays. In univariate analysis, Ki67 (≤20 vs >20%) was a prognostic factor for distant disease-free survival (hazard ratio: 2.7, 95% confidence interval: 1.3–5.4, P=0.005) and overall survival (hazard ratio: 4.9, 95% confidence interval: 1.7–14, P=0.003). When stratifying for ER status and histological grade, Ki67 was a significant prognostic factor for distant disease-free survival and overall survival only in the ER-positive group, and only in patients with histological grade 2, respectively. In multivariate analysis, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 and age were independent prognostic factors for distant disease-free survival, whereas Ki67, histological grade, and tumor size were not. Ki67 was, however, an independent prognostic factor in the 87% of the patients who had not received adjuvant medical treatment. Agreement between the three readers was very good (κ-values: 0.83–0.88). Furthermore, Ki67 was a significant prognostic factor for all three investigators (hazard ratio: 2.7–3.2). This study shows that Ki67 is a prognostic factor in node-negative breast cancer. It is noteworthy that the prognostic information of Ki67 is restricted to ER-positive patients, and to patients with histological grade 2. Taken together, Ki67, as an easily assessed and reproducible proliferation factor, may be an alternative or complement to histological grade as a prognostic tool and for selection of adjuvant treatment.

Determination of HER2 amplification in primary breast cancer using dual-colour chromogenic in situ hybridization is comparable to fluorescence in situ hybridization: a European multicentre study involving 168 specimens

García‐Caballero T, Grabau D, Green A R, Gregory J, Schad A, Kohlwes E, Ellis I O, Watts S & Mollerup J
(2010) Histopathology56, 472–480
Determination of HER2 amplification in primary breast cancer using dual‐colour chromogenic in situ hybridization is comparable to fluorescence in situ hybridization: a European multicentre study involving 168 specimens

Evidence for tissue factor phosphorylation and its correlation with protease-activated receptor expression and the prognosis of primary breast cancer

Tissue factor (TF)‐mediated protease‐activated receptor (PAR)‐2 signaling is associated with a promigratory, invasive and proangiogenic phenotype in experimental models of breast cancer and has been mechanistically coupled to phosphorylation of the TF cytoplasmic domain (pTF). However, the clinical relevance of these findings is unknown. Here, we provide the first in vivo evidence of TF phosphorylation in experimental as well as clinical breast cancer tumors. pTF was demonstrated in MDA‐MB‐231 xenografts and in tumors from the MMTV‐PyMT transgene model of spontaneous murine breast adenocarcinoma. Tumors from PAR‐2–deficient transgenic mice were negative for pTF, thus linking pTF to PAR‐2 signaling. The clinical correlation between TF, pTF, PAR‐1, PAR‐2 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)‐A was determined by immunohistochemistry on tumors from a cohort of 172 consecutive primary breast cancer patients, with a median follow‐up time of 50 months. In 160 evaluable patient tumors, pTF was associated with TF (p = 0.01) and cancer cell expression of PAR‐1 (p = 0.001), PAR‐2 (p = 0.014) and VEGF‐A (p = 0.003) using χ2 test. PAR‐2 and VEGF‐A were coexpressed (p = 0.013) and associated with a more aggressive phenotype. Interestingly, all patients experiencing recurrences had tumors expressing pTF and PAR‐2, and pTF alone as well as coexpression of pTF and PAR‐2 were significantly correlated with shorter recurrence‐free survival (log rank test, p = 0.04 and p = 0.02, respectively). This study provides the first evidence to link PAR‐2 expression and TF phosphorylation to clinical data in human breast cancer. In conjunction with experimental tumor models, these data support an important role of TF‐PAR‐2 signaling in breast cancer recurrence.