LIMCH1 as a New Potential Metastasis Predictor in Breast Cancer

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: High LIMCH1 expression in lung and renal cancer is determined as a favorable prognostic factor. However, prognostic value of LIMCH1 expression in breast cancer has not been studied yet. Therefore, this study was performed to determine the prognostic value of LIMCH1 expression in breast cancer patients. METHODS: This retrospective study included 89 patients with invasive breast carcinoma of no special type. These patients referred to Cancer Research Institute of Tomsk National Research Medical Center from 2007 to 2018. LIMCH1 protein expression in tumor cells was detected by immunohistochemical analysis in this study. Statistical analysis was done to investigate the possible relationship between LIMCH1 protein expression and clinicopathological parameters, risk of metastasis, distant metastasis free survival, and overall survival. RESULTS: IHC analysis of breast cancer tissue samples revealed that LIMHC1 protein expression was found in 29.2% (26/89) of the cases. Lymph node and distant metastases were more frequent in patients with LIMCH1 protein expression. LIMCH1 protein expression increased the risk of distant metastasis based on our findings. LIMCH1 protein affected metastatic-free survival regardless of the T, as well as other clinical and pathological parameters (p=0.0146, HR=3.2058 (1.26; 8.17)). Moreover, LIMCH1 protein expression was associated with worse overall survival (p=0.0071, HR=2.73 (1.28; 5.85)) in our breast cancer patients. CONCLUSION: LIMCH1 protein expression was associate with metastases development, providing prognostic stratification. In breast cancer, LIMCH1 protein expression was found as an unfavorable prognostic factor of distant metastasis-free survival based on our findings.