Conclusions
This study confirmed the prognostic significance of DSCC1 in invasive BC patients. DSCC1 could be a therapeutic target in BC cases with poor outcomes.
Methods
The association of clinicopathological features and patient outcomes with DSCC1 expression at the mRNA level was assessed using the Molecular Taxonomy Breast Cancer International Consortium (METABRIC; n = 1980) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA; n = 854) cohorts. DSCC1 was also evaluated at the protein level using immunohistochemistry on samples from invasive BC patients (n = 100) presenting to King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital in Saudi Arabia. The association of clinicopathological parameters (including patient age, tumor grade, tumor size, and patient outcome) with protein level was also evaluated.
Results
In both METABRIC and TCGA cohorts, high expression of DSCC1 was significantly associated with high histological grade, large tumor size, lymphovascular invasion positivity, and hormone receptor negativity (all p < 0.001). A high DSCC1 mRNA level was associated with poor outcomes (p < 0.001 for METABRIC, p = 0.23 for TCGA). At the protein level, high DSCC1 expression was associated with high histological grade (p = 0.001), lymph node presence (p = 0.008), hormone receptor negativity (p = 0.005), high Ki67 expression (p = 0.036), and shorter survival (p = 0.008). Conclusions: This study confirmed the prognostic significance of DSCC1 in invasive BC patients. DSCC1 could be a therapeutic target in BC cases with poor outcomes.