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A Five-Gene Molecular Grade Index and HOXB13:IL17BR Are Complementary Prognostic Factors in Early Stage Breast Cancer

Authors' Affiliations: ¹ AviaraDx, Inc., San Diego, California; ² Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Molecular Pathology Research Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and ³ Division of Hematology and Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, Massachusetts; ⁴ Translational Research Unit, Jules Bordet Institute, Brussels, Belgium; and ⁵ John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom

Requests for reprints: Dennis Sgroi, Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Molecular Pathology Research Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02129. Phone: 617-726-5697; Fax: 617-726-5697; E-mail: dsgroi{at}partners.org or Mark Erlander, 11025 Roselle St., Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92121. E-mail: merlander{at}aviaradx.com.

Purpose: Histologic tumor grade is a well-established prognostic factor for breast cancer, and tumor grade–associated genes are the common denominator of many prognostic gene signatures. The objectives of this study are as follows: (a) to develop a simple gene expression index for tumor grade (molecular grade index or MGI), and (b) to determine whether MGI and our previously described HOXB13:IL17BR index together provide improved prognostic information.

Experimental Design: From our previously published list of genes whose expression correlates with both tumor grade and tumor stage progression, we selected five cell cycle–related genes to build MGI and evaluated MGI in two publicly available microarray data sets totaling 410 patients. Using two additional cohorts (n = 323), we developed a real-time reverse transcription PCR assay for MGI, validated its prognostic utility, and examined its interaction with HOXB13:IL17BR.

Results: MGI performed consistently as a strong prognostic factor and was comparable with a more complex 97-gene genomic grade index in multiple data sets. In patients treated with endocrine therapy, MGI and HOXB13:IL17BR modified each other's prognostic performance. High MGI was associated with significantly worse outcome only in combination with high HOXB13:IL17BR, and likewise, high HOXB13:IL17BR was significantly associated with poor outcome only in combination with high MGI.

Conclusions: We developed and validated a five-gene reverse transcription PCR assay for MGI suitable for analyzing routine formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded clinical samples. The combination of MGI and HOXB13:IL17BR outperforms either alone and identifies a subgroup (30%) of early stage estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer patients with very poor outcome despite endocrine therapy.

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