Background/aim: Elevated blood fibronectin (FN) levels have been observed in various cancers; however, their significance is controversial. We measured sialyl-fibronectin (S-FN), a type of FN secreted by tumor cells in the blood, and investigated whether blood S-FN secretion is associated with cancer malignancy and recurrent metastases.
Materials and methods: We constructed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system that recognizes S-FN as an antigen and measured the amount of S-FN secreted into the blood of 89 patients with breast tumors. The relationship between S-FN secretion and prognostic predictors was analyzed. Immunostaining was performed to identify the site of S-FN secretion in the breast tissue.
Results: Among the 82 patients, 21 (25.6%, 21/82) and 61 (74.4%, 61/82) were blood S-FN-positive and S-FN-negative, respectively. Regarding prognostic predictors, blood S-FN-positive and S-FN-negative patients showed significant difference in locoregional recurrence (p=0.026), remote metastases (p=0.049), and histological margins (p=0.001). Locoregional recurrence was associated with positive histological margins in S-FN-positive patients. However, remote metastases were associated with N-factor and histological classification (HC) in S-FN-negative patients. Furthermore, S-FN particles were detected in the cytoplasm of breast cancer cells through immunostaining. After the onset of recurrent metastases, two S-FN-positive and six S-FN-negative patients received anticancer drug treatment; however, further progression was observed in five S-FN-negative patients.
Conclusion: S-FN-positive patients are less likely to develop distant metastases, have a better prognosis, and may be less resistant to therapeutic agents than S-FN-negative patients, which contain many epithelial-mesenchymal transition cells.
Keywords: EMT; Sialyl-fibronectin; biomarker; breast cancer; prognosis.
Copyright 2023, International Institute of Anticancer Research.