Overexpression of ferritin light chain as a poor prognostic factor for breast cancer

Ferritin light chain (FTL) is involved in tumor progression, but the specific molecular processes by which FTL affects the development of breast cancer (BRCA) have remained unknown. In this research, the clinicopathological significance of FTL overexpression in BRCA was investigated.

To investigate the role of FTL in BRCA, we utilized multiple online databases to analyse FTL expression levels in BRCA. Next, we reviewed the expression and localization of the FTL protein in BRCA by immunohistochemistry (IHC), Western blot (WB) and immunofluorescence (IF) staining. To assess the impact of FTL on patient prognosis, we conducted Kaplan‒Meier, univariate and multivariate survival analyses. The relationship between FTL and immune infiltration in BRCA was also analysed in the TISCH and SangerBox databases. MTT, malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) assays were carried out to investigate the molecular mechanisms of FTL action in BRCA cells.

FTL was significantly upregulated in BRCA compared to normal tissues. Its expression significantly linked to histological grade (P = 0.038), PR expression (P = 0.021), Her2 expression (P = 0.012) and Ki-67 expression (P = 0.040) in patients with BRCA. Furthermore, the expression of the FTL protein was higher in the BRCA cell lines than in the normal breast cells and mainly localized in the cytoplasm. Compared to patients with a low level of FTL expression, patients with a high level of FTL expression showed lower overall survival (OS). More convincingly, univariate and multivariate statistical analyses revealed that FTL expression (P = 0.000), ER expression (P = 0.036) and Her2 expression (P = 0.028) were meaningful independent prognostic factors in patients with BRCA. FTL was associated with immune infiltration in BRCA. Functional experiments further revealed that FTL knockdown inhibited the capacity of proliferation and increased the level of oxidative stress in BRCA cells.

Overexpression of FTL was associated with the progression of BRCA. FTL overexpression may become a biomarker for the evaluation of poor prognosis in patients with BRCA.