HISTAMINE H4 RECEPTOR EXPRESSION IN TRIPLE NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

MÓNICA TAQUEZ DELGADO; NICOUD, MELISA B.; ERNZ, G; SPEISKY, DANIELA; SARASOLA, MARÍA DE LA PAZ; DEZANZO, P; MEDINA, VANINA A.; LOTTI, A; VIGOVICH, F; URIBURU JL

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Reunión Anual de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2020

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive BC subtype. Unfortunately, there are neither universally accepted prognostic markers to predict outcomes, nor specific molecular targets related to TNBC. The histamine H4 receptor (H4R) has been characterized in TNBC experimental models, demonstrating its critical role in tumor development and progression. Limited information about the association of H4R expression with markers of prognosis is available. In this study, we investigated the H4R expression in samples of 26 TNBC patients and its correlation with clinicopathological features, and survival estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Positive H4R immunoreactivity was observed in about 65% and 81% of tumor specimens and peritumoral breast tissue, respectively. A moderate positive correlation was found between the expression of H4R in the tumoral and peritumoral tissue (Spearman r: 0.4412, P=0.0398). Elevated H4R expression in peritumoral tissue and tumors was observed in patients with negative lymph node metastasis and unifocal TNBC. Even more, a negative correlation between H4R expression. and the number of lymph node involvement was observed in peritumoral tissue (Spearman r: -0.5429, P=0.0110), accompanied by a similar tendency in relation to the tumor size. However, no significant association was observed between the H4R expression and tumor grade, stage, Ki67 percentage and lymphovascular invasion in both tumor and histologically-normal samples. Negative H4R expression was associated with reduced survival. In summary, these results suggest that H4R might represent a potential prognostic biomarker in TNBC patients. Further studies in larger cohorts are needed to better understand the significance of H4R in breast cancer biology.