CCNA2 is a prognostic biomarker for ER+ breast cancer and tamoxifen resistance

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 12;9(3):e91771. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091771. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Identification of effective prognostic biomarkers and targets are of crucial importance to the management of estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer. CCNA2 (also known as CyclinA2) belongs to the highly conserved cyclin family and is significantly overexpressed in various cancer types. In this study, we demonstrated that CCNA2 had significant predictive power in distant metastasis free survival, disease free survival, recurrence free survival and overall survival of ER+ breast cancer patients. We also found that CCNA2 was closely associated with tamoxifen resistance. In addition, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed that its expression was positively associated with genes overexpressed in endocrine therapy resistant samples. Finally, though CCNA2-Drug interaction network, we demonstrated the interactions between CCNA2 and several available cancer drugs. Overall, we suggest that CCNA2 is a biomarker for the prognosis of ER+ breast cancer and monitoring of tamoxifen efficacy. It's also a promising target for developing new strategies to prevent or even reverse tamoxifen resistance. Moreover, CCNA2 expression may help monitoring tamoxifen efficacy and directing personalized therapies. Nevertheless, in vivo and in vitro experiments and multi-center randomized controlled clinical trials are still needed before its application in clinical settings.

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism*
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Breast Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cyclin A2 / metabolism*
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Prognosis
  • Receptors, Estrogen / metabolism*
  • Tamoxifen / pharmacology*
  • Tamoxifen / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • CCNA2 protein, human
  • Cyclin A2
  • Receptors, Estrogen
  • Tamoxifen

Grants and funding

The authors have no support or funding to report.