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Fig. 6 | Breast Cancer Research

Fig. 6

From: Foxf2 plays a dual role during transforming growth factor beta-induced epithelial to mesenchymal transition by promoting apoptosis yet enabling cell junction dissolution and migration

Fig. 6

High Foxf2 expression correlates with good prognosis in early-onset breast cancer patients but with poor prognosis in late-stage estrogen receptor-negative and luminal B breast cancer patients. a,b Statistical analysis of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (Minn) database. Tumors were divided into high and low Foxf2-expressing groups based on the median expression of Foxf2 mRNA. Expression of Foxf2 was correlated with distant metastasis free survival in lymph node-negative (LN–) tumors (n = 28) or LN+ tumors (n = 54). Foxf2 expression is predictive for metastasis incidence in LN– tumors (a), where low Foxf2 expression correlates with early metastases onset (p value = 0.0351), but not for LN+ tumors (b). c–f Statistical analysis of the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI295) database. Tumors were divided into high and low Foxf2-expressing groups based on the relative expression of Foxf2 compared with the tumor pool (log fold change = 0). Expression of Foxf2 was correlated with time to metastasis (c, f) or overall survival (d, e) either in all tumors analyzed (c; n = 288) or stratified for estrogen receptor (ER) expression (e, f; ER-negative: n = 68; ER-positive: n = 220). Foxf2 expression does not correlate with tumor metastasis in the total tumor pool (c), but high Foxf2 expression is predictive for overall patient survival in luminal subtype B (d; p = 0.00131) and ER-negative tumors (e; p = 0.0154), respectively. High Foxf2 expression levels also correlate with an early onset of metastasis in ER-negative patients (f; p = 0.007). g ,h Statistical analysis of the Metabric database (n = 1298 tumors). g Tumors were divided into high and low Foxf2-expressing groups based on the median expression of Foxf2 mRNA. In the luminal subtype B tumors (n = 352), Foxf2 expression is predictive for overall survival (p value of the likelihood-ratio test). h Expression of Foxf2 across multiple different tumor subtypes shows significantly increased levels in ER-negative (ERneg) vs ER-positive (ERpos) tumors, in triple negative (TNeg), and in claudin-low (Cl_low) compared with all other tumors (p value of the Kruskal-Wallis test; *p ≤ 0.05; ***p ≤ 0.001)

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