The Role of Annexin A4 in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Progression and Its Clinical Application

Background: The expression of annexin A4 in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the expression of annexin A4 in TNBC tissues, as well as its relationship with clinicopathological and prognostic indicators, with an aim to assess its application value.

Methods: We adopted immunohistochemical and western blot to detect annexin A4 expression in TNBC and para-carcinoma tissues, and to explore the relationship between abnormal expression of annexin A4 and clinicopathological features of TNBC patients.

Results: The annexin A4 expression was significantly higher in TNBC tissues than in adjacent tissues. We analyzed the relationship between annexin A4 expression level and clinicopathological characteristics of TNBC patients. The results suggested that annexin A4 expression level was closely related to TNM stage, vascular involvement, lymphovascular invasion, and lymph node status of TNBC patients. The results survival analysis suggested upregulated expression of annexin A4 in TNBC patients with a shorter survival time. The results of a multifactor analysis showed that high annexin A4 expression rate was an independent predictive factor of the prognosis of the TNBC patients.

Conclusions: The high annexin A4 expression indicates the poor prognosis of TNBC patients; thus, annexin A4 can be regarded as an important molecular marker in TNBC prognosis.