Abstract P1-08-05: Expression levels of sialyl transfereases and fucosyl transferases in breast cancer and their prognostic significance

Aberrant expression of fucose or sialic acid containing glycans is prevalent in various cancers, including breast cancer. The addition of fucose and sialic acid to glycans is mediated by fucosyl transferases (FUTs) and sialyl transferases (STs), respectively. To explore the roles of these FUTs and STs in breast cancer, we collected 123 paired breast cancer specimens (tumor tissue and non-tumor tissue) and determined the RNA expression levels of 13 FUTs (FUT1-13) and 13 STs (ST3Gal1-6, ST6Gal1, ST6GalNAc1-4, ST6GalNAc6, ST8Sia1 and ST8Sia4) by q-PCR. The expression of 10 FUTs and 10 STs is significantly higher in tumor tissue than in non-tumor tissue by 1.2-4.09 folds. Notably, expression of FUT1 and ST3Gal1 appeared to be highest in triple negative subtype. Further multivariate Cox regression analysis showed a significant correlation between higher hazard ratios (HRs) for five-year relapse-free survival (RFS) and higher ST3Gal1 expression (N = 16, HR = 2.54, p = 0.02) or lower ST3Gal3 expression (N = 88, HR = 3.44, p < 0.001). As to the joint effects of high expression of ST3Gal1 and low expression of ST3Gal3 (N = 10) compared with low expression of ST3Gal1 and high expression of ST3Gal3 (N = 82), the HR was 5.5 (95% CI = 2.16-14.02, p = 0.0004) for RFS. The two gene additive model displayed a statistically significant HR of 2.33 for RFS (95% CI = 1.48-3.69, p = 0.0003). These results suggest that FUTs and STs play important roles in tumor progression. Citation Format: Yu AL, Liao K-H, Chang C-H, Lin Y-C, Fan T-C, Hung J-T, Yeo H-L, Lin R-J, Yu J-C. Expression levels of sialyl transfereases and fucosyl transferases in breast cancer and their prognostic significance. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-08-05.