Patterns of Dual-Specific Phosphatase 4 mRNA Expression Before and after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer

OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy response can be performed by comparing the breast cancer burden and pathobiology before and after treatment. This study was aimed to investigate the pattern of dual-specific phosphatase 4 (DUSP4) mRNA expression in breast cancer cells before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. METHODS: This was a longitudinal study. Twenty samples of matched breast cancer tissue taken from biopsy before and after chemotherapy were subjected to qRT-PCR to detect DUSP4 mRNA expression. RESULTS: The mean value of DUSP4 mRNA expression in prechemotherapy breast cancer patients was 9.906±0.333 and that in breast cancer patients postchemotherapy was 10.016±1.062. In the responsive group, the rate of DUSP4 mRNA expression increased by 0.476 after chemotherapy. In the nonresponsive group, the proportion of DUSP4 mRNA expression likely decreased by 1.012. Statistical analysis found no significant correlation between DUSP4 mRNA expression prechemotherapy and the clinical chemotherapeutic response with p-value = 0.994 (p ≥0.05). A significant correlation was found between the postchemotherapy DUSP4 mRNA expression and the clinical chemotherapeutic response with p-value = 0.003 (p < 0.5). CONCLUSION: No significant difference was found in the mRNA expression of DUSP4 in pre- and post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy specimens. High DUSP4 expression postchemotherapy shows a substantial correlation with the chemotherapeutic response.