Copper Chaperone for Superoxide Dismutase Subtypes as a Prognostic Marker in Luminal B Breast Cancer

Clin Med Insights Oncol. 2024 Jan 4:18:11795549231219239. doi: 10.1177/11795549231219239. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Background: Copper chaperone for superoxide dismutase (CCS) is an essential component of the oxidation-reduction system. In breast cancer cells, CCS expression is highly up-regulated, which contributes to cellular proliferation and migration. Breast cancer is a multifaceted disease with different tumor prognoses and responses to clinical treatments, which may be associated with multiple molecular subtypes of CCS.

Methods: The CCS expression patterns in breast cancer were investigated by TNMplot, cBioPortal, and HPA network database. The correlation of CCS expression with clinicopathological parameters was analyzed using the UALCAN database. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data set was used to analyze the Clinical characteristics of CCS in luminal B patients. The bc-GenExMiner database was used to analyze the effects of BReast-CAncer susceptibility gene (BRCA)1/2, TP53 mutation status, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER) expression on CCS expression. The survival curves and prognostic value of CCS in luminal B breast cancer were performed through Kaplan-Meier curves, univariate and multivariate Cox regression using the PrognoScan, bc-GenExMiner, and Clinical bioinformatics analysis platform.

Results: We found that CCS expression was associated with patient age, race, ER, and PR status. We also discovered that BRCA1/2 mutations had an effect on CCS expression. The luminal B subtype had the highest CCS expression, which was linked to poor survival compared with other subtypes. In addition, Kaplan-Meier curve analysis showed that luminal B patients with high CCS mRNA expression showed a poor survival and the CCS gene is an independent predictor of outcome in patients with luminal B breast cancer by univariate and multivariate Cox regression.

Conclusions: Our findings emphasize the significant expression of CCS in luminal B breast cancer and its potential as an autonomous prognostic determinant for this specific molecular subtype. These findings suggest that CCS holds promise as a prospective marker for the treatment of luminal B breast cancer.

Keywords: Copper chaperone for superoxide dismutase; TNMplot; UALCAN; bc-GenExMiner; breast cancer; luminal B.