Upregulated WTAP expression appears to both promote breast cancer growth and inhibit lymph node metastasis

It is unclear as to whether Wilms' tumor 1-associated protein (WTAP) promotes or suppresses breast cancer. This immunohistochemistry analysis explored levels of WTAP expression in 347 cases of breast cancer and analyzed the relationship between WTAP expression and the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of breast cancer patients. The rate of high WTAP expression was significantly higher in breast cancer tissue than in adjacent normal breast tissue (37.5% vs 0.0%; P < 0.001). WTAP expression was positively associated with tumor size and grade, and negatively associated with axillary lymph node metastasis, estrogen and progesterone receptor status. Rates of high WTAP expression were 66.1% in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tissue and 31.3% in non-TNBC tissue. In multiple logistic regression analysis, independent predictors of WTAP expression in breast cancer included larger tumor size (odds ratio = 1.907; 95% confidence interval: 1.185-3.067; P = 0.008), lymph node metastasis (0.597; 0.373-0.956; P = 0.032) and TNBC status (3.735; 2.056-6.784; P < 0.001). No clear relationship was observed between patient prognosis and WTAP expression. We suggest that WTAP expression is upregulated in breast cancer and appears to both promote tumor growth and inhibit lymph node metastasis.