Affiliations: [a] Department of Immuno-Histo-Cytology, Salah Azaiez Institute, Tunis, Tunisia | [b] Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Tunis El Manar, Ariana, Tunisia | [c] Predictive Oncology Laboratory, Cancer Research Center of Marseille, Paoli-Calmettes Institute, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France | [d] UFR of Medicine, Aix Marseille University, Marseille, France | [e] Department of Medical Oncology, Paoli-Calmettes Institute, Marseille, France | [f] Department of Surgery, Salah Azaiez Institute, Tunis, Tunisia
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Maroua Manai, Department of Immuno-Histo-Cytology, Salah Azaiez Institute, Place Bab Saadoun, Tunis 1006, Tunisia. Tel.: +216 26024396; E-mail: maroua.m@hotmail.com.
Note: [1] These authors contributed equally and should be considered as first co-authors.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare and aggressive disease. Thus, identification of new therapeutic targets is crucial. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to evaluate the protein expression of MARCKS (Myristoylated Alanine-Rich C-Kinase Substrate) in MBC and to investigate its prognostic value. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MARCKS protein expression in tumor and stromal cells was analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in a retrospective series of 96 pre-chemotherapy MBC samples and 80 normal breast samples, from Tunisian patients treated at Salah Azaiez Institute. Correlations were searched between MARCKS expression and clinicopathological features including overall survival (OS). RESULTS: MARCKS was overexpressed in epithelial tumor cells in 66% of the MBC samples versus 26% of normal samples (p= 1.40 × 10-7). Such positive MARCKS expression in epithelial tumor cells was associated with positive HER2 status (p= 4.0 × 10-3). It was associated with shorter OS in uni-and multivariate analysis. By contrast, stromal IHC MARCKS expression was correlated only with tumor grade. CONCLUSION: MARCKS tumor cell overexpression might in part explain the aggressiveness and the poor prognosis of MBC. MARCKS can represent a potential therapeutic target for MBC.
Keywords: MARCKS, expression, male breast cancer, immunohistochemistry, survival
