KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of EPHX2 in Mexican patients with BC using tissue microarrays and digital pathology.
- The high nuclear EPHX2 expression predicts poor prognosis in patients with BC, identified using digital pathology.
Breast cancer (BC) is the most prevalent cancer among women, with rising incidence rates worldwide. Identifying new prognostic and therapeutic molecules is crucial for enhancing treatment responses and improving quality of life (QoL).
The metabolic pathway of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) plays a role in various physiological processes and cancer development. While abnormalities in this pathway are linked to cancer, its relevance in BC remains underexplored.
Mayra Montecillo-Aguado and the team aimed to assess the clinical significance of soluble epoxide hydrolase (EPHX2) expression in Mexican patients with BC using tissue microarrays (TMAs) and digital pathology (DP) and to explore its potential as a prognostic biomarker.
Researchers measured EPHX2 levels by performing immunohistochemical analyses on 11 TMAs containing 267 breast cancer samples. They used digital pathology to focus on EPHX2 in tumor areas only.
The relationship between EPHX2 levels and overall survival (OS) was checked through public database analysis and confirmed with Cox regression in their cohort. The ROC curve determined the best EPHX2 cutoff at 2.847062 × 10-3 pixels, showing 69.2% sensitivity and 67% specificity.
The results indicated that EPHX2 showed strong nuclear expression. Higher EPHX2 levels were linked to older age, higher nuclear grade, HER2 positivity, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtypes, and recurrence. Kaplan-Meier curves revealed that more EPHX2 in the nucleus predicts shorter OS. Multivariate analysis confirmed EPHX2 as an independent OS predictor, with HR of 3.483 and a 95% CI of 1.804-6.724 (P<0.001).
The study concluded that nuclear overexpression of EPHX2 predicts poor prognosis in patients with BC. The digital pathology approach was essential in identifying this association, highlighting EPHX2 as a valuable prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target.
The study was funded by the Hospital Infantil de Mexico Federico Gómez, and the Mexico Federal Funds.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39125591/
Montecillo-Aguado M, Soca-Chafre G, Antonio-Andres G, et al. (2024). “Upregulated Nuclear Expression of Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Predicts Poor Outcome in Breast Cancer Patients: Importance of the Digital Pathology Approach.” Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Jul 23;25(15):8024. doi: 10.3390/ijms25158024. PMID: 39125591; PMCID: PMC11312095.
