J Pathol Transl Med.  2022 Mar;56(2):73-80. 10.4132/jptm.2021.10.27.

Fatty acid synthetase expression in triple-negative breast cancer

• Park JH
• Han HS
• Lim SD
• Kim WY
• Park KS
• Yoo YB
• Lee SE
• Kim WS

• KMID: 2527191
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4132/jptm.2021.10.27

Abstract

Background
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has a relatively poor prognosis. Research has identified potential metabolic targets, including fatty acid metabolism, in TNBC. The absence of effective target therapies for TNBC led to exploration of the role of fatty acid synthetase (FASN) as a potential target for TNBC therapy. Here, we analyzed the expression of FASN, a representative lipid metabolism–related protein, and investigated the association between FASN expression and Ki-67 and the programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) biomarkers in TNBC.
Methods
Immunohistochemical expression of FASN was analyzed in 166 patients with TNBC. For analytical purposes, patients with 0–1+ FASN staining were grouped as low-grade FASN and patients with 2–3+ FASN staining as high-grade FASN.
Results
FASN expression was observed in 47.1% of TNBC patients. Low and high expression of FASN was identified in 75.9% and 24.1%, respectively, and no statistically significant difference was found in T category, N category, American Joint Committee on Cancer stage, or recurrence rate between the low and high-FASN expression groups. Ki-67 proliferation level was significantly different between the low and high-FASN expression groups. FASN expression was significantly related to Ki-67 as the level increased. There was no significant difference in PD-L1 positivity between the low- and high-FASN expression groups.
Conclusions
We identified FASN expression in 166 TNBC patients. The Ki-67 proliferation index was positively correlated with FASN level, indicating higher proliferation activity as FASN increases. However, there was no statistical association with PD-L1 SP142, the currently FDA-approved assay, or FASN expression level.

Keyword

Triple-negative breast neoplasms; FASN; Immunohistochemistry; Ki-67; PD-L1 SP142

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Fatty acid synthetase expression in triple-negative breast cancer: grade 0 (A), grade 1 (B), grade 2 (C), and grade 3 (D).

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  Fig. 2 A representative case of SP142 (B) expression in the expression of high fatty acid synthase (FASN) (A) was confirmed.

Reference

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