Half of most frequently mutated genes in breast cancer are expressed
differentially between premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer
patients
Abstract
Breast cancer has distinct causes and molecular characteristics at
premenopausal and postmenopausal ages. The age-standardized incidence
rate for postmenopausal breast cancer is more than 10 times higher than
in premenopausal breast cancer. Here, I showed that the expression of 10
out of 20 most frequently mutated genes in breast cancer (namely,
PIK3CA, CDH1, MUC16, PTEN, FAT3, FAT1, SPEN, ARID1A, LRP1B and RUNX1) is
higher in premenopausal women with breast cancer than in postmenopausal
women with breast cancer. The most significant differences in the
expression in terms of menopause status were observed for RUNX1 and
FAT1. Furthermore, I found that the majority of these 10 genes also show
ER (estrogen receptor) or PR (progesterone receptor) status-dependent
expression in both premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer
patients. Unlike what I observed in the case of ER or PR status, the
expression of most of these genes does not change depending on HER2
(human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) status in both premenopausal
and postmenopausal breast cancer patients. Combined, our analysis
suggests that menopause status might influence the expression of most
frequently mutated genes in breast cancer, and that the most of these
genes whose expression differ between pre- and post-menopausal women
with breast cancer also show ER or PR status-dependent expression in
women with breast cancer.