Prognostic significance of adipophilin expression in biopsy specimens of patients with triple-negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive type of breast cancer. The present authors recently demonstrated that expression of the lipid-related protein adipophilin (ADP) in operative specimens is a significant poor prognostic factor in patients with TNBC. Using biopsy specimens is important in making clinical decisions for patients with breast cancer; however, the prognostic significance of ADP expression in biopsy specimens from TNBC patients remains unclear. The present study determined the prognostic significance of ADP expression in biopsy specimens from TNBC patients and compared ADP-expression status between biopsy and operative specimens. The present study analyzed ADP-expression profiles in biopsy specimens from 102 patients with TNBC using immunohistochemical staining and determined relapse-free survival and risk factors associated with ADP expression in these specimens, as well as the concordance of ADP expression between biopsy and operative specimens. The results identified ADP expression in 35.3% of biopsy specimens from TNBC patients. The Ki-67 labelling index was significantly higher in ADP-positive patients (P<0.001). Univariate analysis revealed that ADP expression in biopsy specimens was significantly associated with poor relapse-free survival in patients not administered neoadjuvant chemotherapy or adjuvant chemotherapy (P=0.026). Furthermore, the concordance rate of ADP expression between biopsy and operative specimens was 73.1%, with a Cohen's kappa coefficient of 0.385 (P=0.003). These findings suggested that ADP expression in biopsy specimens might be a useful prognostic marker for patients with TNBC and could potentially provide important information regarding treatment strategies for these patients.