The overexpression of ZWINT in integrated bioinformatics analysis forecasts poor prognosis in breast cancer

BACKGROUND: Zeste White 10 interactor (ZW10 interactor, ZWINT) is a centromeric complex required for a mitotic spindle checkpoint. According to previous studies, it was overexpressed in people with recurrent tumors. However, the expression of ZWINT in breast cancer has not been thoroughly studied. In addition, the correlations of ZWINT to prognosis in breast cancer remain unclear. METHODS: In this study, the expression of ZWINT in different types of tumors was analyzed based on the Oncomine database, and the effect of ZWINT expression on clinical prognosis was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier plotter. RESULTS: In breast cancer, lung cancer, sarcoma, ovarian cancer, bladder cancer, liver cancer and cervical cancer, the expression of ZWINT was higher than that in normal tissues, but in gastric cancer, prostate cancer, myeloma, renal cancer and pancreatic cancer, the expression of ZWINT was lower. In addition, a meta-analysis of 22 cancer database studies found that the ZWINT gene was over-expressed in breast cancer tissues compared with normal tissues (P=4.05×10(−6)). Through the survival analysis of Kaplan-Meier plotter, it is found that the high expression of ZWINT is related to the worse overall survival (OS) [hazard ratio (HR) =1.73, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.39–2.51, P=5.4×10(−7)], RFS (HR =1.68, 95% CI: 1.51–1.88, P<1×10(−16)) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) (HR =1.55, 95% CI: 1.28–1.89, P=7.9×10(−6)) in all BC patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our results strongly suggest that over expression of ZWINT is closely related to poor prognosis of breast cancer. ZWINT may be a prognostic biomarker for the treatment of BC.