Predictive value of de novo and induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in locally advanced breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Abstract

Abstract The dynamic transformation of an adherent proliferative epithelial cell to a migratory and invasive mesenchymal state that can drive tumour metastasis has been widely acknowledged in in vitro models as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). We have characterized EMT status in tissues from 35 locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) patients before and after receiving anthracycline and taxane-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Routine analyses for ER, PR, HER2, lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and tumour staging parameters were available for all patients and five year recurrence and survival data was available for 34. Six patients (17%) had a pathological complete respo..