Angiopoietin-Like Protein 4 and Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Expression in Invasive Breast Carcinoma in Young Women

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Breast cancers arising before the age of 45 years, also known as early-onset breast cancers, have a more aggressive behavior and worse prognosis than late-onset breast cancers. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify potential therapeutic targets for this group of tumors. In the last decade, angiopoietin-like protein 4 and insulin-like growth factor-1 have attracted attention in clinical research as independent markers of the progression and prognosis of malignancies. In this study, we investigated the expression of both proteins in breast carcinoma tissue from young patients and examined whether their expression can be predicted by clinicopathological parameters. ABSTRACT: Biomarker identification is imperative for invasive breast carcinoma, which is more aggressive and associated with higher mortality and worse prognosis in younger patients (<45 years) than in older patients (>50 years). The current study aimed to investigate angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) protein expression in breast tissue from young patients with breast carcinoma. Immunohistochemical staining was applied in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples of breast carcinoma tissue from young patients aged <45 years at the time of diagnosis. Both proteins were expressed in the majority of cases. The highest frequency of positive ANGPTL4 and IGF-1 expression was observed in the luminal A subtype, whereas the HER2-overexpression subtype exhibited the lowest expression frequency for both proteins. There was no significant association between ANGPTL4 (p = 0.897) and IGF-1 (p = 0.091) expression and molecular subtypes of breast carcinoma. The histological grade was a significant predictor of ANGPTL4 expression (grade 1 vs. grade 3, adjusted odds ratio = 12.39, p = 0.040). Therefore, ANGPTL-4 and IGF-1 expressions are common in young breast carcinoma tissue. There is a potential use of them as biomarkers in breast carcinoma.