Purpose: To investigate the correlation between Dickkopf-related protein 1 (DKK1) expression and prognosis of breast cancer.
Methods: The DKK1 expression in breast cancer cell lines was evaluated via reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting. The DKK1 expression pattern in 85 cases of breast cancer was detected using the immunohistochemical method. Besides, the prognostic significance was evaluated via Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression model.
Results: DKK1 expression was confirmed in hormone-resistant breast cancer cell lines SK and MDA-MB231. DKK1 expression in breast cancer was associated with cytoplasm/nuclear β-catenin (p<0.01). Increased expressions of DKK1 and cytoplasm/nuclear β-catenin in breast cancer indicated adverse outcome of patients. DKK1 was also a bad prognostic factor for patients in early disease stage or without lymph node metastasis.
Conclusion: Both DKK1 and β-catenin may be important prognostic factors for breast cancer. DKK1 may be a valuable biomarker for predicting the prognosis of patients in early disease stage or with no lymph node metastasis. β-catenin will possibly serve as a potential therapeutic target for patients with triple-negative breast cancer through further understanding the role of Wnt/β-catenin pathway activation.