Overexpression of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E is correlated with increased risk for systemic dissemination in...

Molecular events impact systemic dissemination. Overexpression of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) has been shown to predict worse clinical outcomes in breast cancer. Node-positive breast cancer patients were specifically studied to determine if eIF4E elevation increases risk for systemic dissemination.

Two hundred two node-positive breast cancer patients were prospectively accrued and treated with standardized treatment and surveillance protocol. Tumor eIF4E protein level was quantified by Western blots as x-fold over benign samples from noncancer patients. Primary end point was systemic metastasis.

Systemic recurrence was detected in 22.2% of the low eIF4E group, 27.3% of the intermediate group, and 49% of the high group, at a median follow-up of 47 months. A greater risk for systemic metastasis was seen in the high eIF4E group compared with the low group (log-rank test, p = 0.0084). Patients in the high eIF4E group had a 1.5-fold (hazard ratio = 1.52; 95% CI, 1.07-2.17; p = 0.0206) higher risk for systemic metastasis than the low group. Sixty percent of the patients with high eIF4E were observed to have metastasis to multiple sites, compared with 50% in the intermediate group, and 14.5% in the low group (p = 0.02, Fisher's exact test). When patients were segregated based on nodal classification (N1, N2, and N3), eIF4E overexpression continued to be a predictor for systemic dissemination in patients with N1 disease.

High eIF4E is correlated with an increased risk for systemic metastasis in node-positive breast cancer patients. High eIF4E overexpression was associated with a higher incidence of metastasis to multiple sites. Therefore, high eIF4E overexpression appears to be a marker for molecular events that increases risk for systemic dissemination.