Prognostic Impact of Src, CDKN1B, and JAK2 Expression in Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Trastuzumab

BACKGROUND: Src, CDKN1B, and JAK2 play a crucial role in the coordination of cell signaling pathways. In the present study, we aim to investigate the prognostic significance of these biomarkers in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients treated with trastuzumab (T). METHODS: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor tissue samples from 197 patients with HER2-positive MBC treated with T were retrospectively collected. All tissue samples were centrally assessed for ER, PgR, Ki67, HER2, and PTEN protein expression; EGFR gene amplification; PI3KCA mutational status; and tumor-infiltrating lympocytes density. Src, CDKN1B, and JAK2 mRNA expression was evaluated using quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Only 133 of the 197 patients (67.5%) were found to be HER2-positive by central assessment. CDKN1B mRNA expression was strongly correlated with Src (rho？=？0.71) and JAK2 (rho？=？0.54). In HER2-positive patients, low CDKN1B conferred higher risk for progression [hazard ratio (HR)？=？1.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-2.32, P？=？.018]. In HER2-negative patients, low Src was associated with longer survival (HR？=？0.56, 95% CI 0.32-0.99, P？=？.045). Upon multivariate analyses, only low CDKN1B and JAK2 mRNA expression remained unfavorable factors for PFS in de novo and relapsed (R)-MBC patients, respectively (HR？=？2.36, 95% CI 1.01-5.48, P？=？.046 and HR？=？1.76, 95% CI 1.01-3.06, P？=？.047, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Low CDKN1B and JAK2 mRNA expressions were unfavorable prognosticators in a cohort of T-treated MBC patients. Our results suggest that CDKN1B and JAK2, if validated, may serve as prognostic factors potentially implicated in T resistance, which seems to be associated with distinct pathways in de novo and R-MBC