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CD47 functions as a dominant anti-engulfment signal on tumour cells and is overexpressed in various malignant tumours. However, the expression and functional significance of CD47 in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is not completely understood. In the present study, CD47 was demonstrated to be overexpressed in TNBC solid tumours. Moreover, increased CD47 expression was significantly associated with an advanced tumour-node-metastasis stage, lymph node involvement and recurrence. Moreover, CD47 was an unfavourable and independent prognostic factor for 5-year disease-free survival in patients with TNBC. In addition, the expression of CD47 was associated with several markers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The present study was the first to demonstrate an association between increased expression of CD47 with EMT and poor prognosis of TNBC. Thus, CD47 may be a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for TNBC.

Epidemiological and animal studies indicate an association between high levels of dietary fat intake and an increased risk of breast cancer. The multifaceted role of autophagy in cancer has been revealed in previous years. However, the mechanism of this role remains unknown. In the present study, the two most common free fatty acids, palmitate acid (PA) and oleic acid (OA), were used to determine the effect on human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells, and the possible role of autophagy was investigated by detecting light chain 3 (LC3)-II/I. Bafliomycin A1 was used to detect autophagy flux. High palmitate acid condition-induced MDA-MB-231 cell death and invasion were mitigated by 3-methyladenine pretreatment or transfection with shRNA against autophagy protein 5. By contrast, high oleic acid condition induced MDA-MB-231 cell proliferation, migration and invasion were mitigated using rapamycin. The present results suggest that autophagy has an important role in the effects of PA and OA on breast cancer growth and metastasis in vitro.

The purpose of the present study was to quantify the cumulative randomized evidence for the efficacy and safety of lapatinib combined with neoadjuvant therapy in human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER) 2-positive breast cancer. Three electronic databases, MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and the abstracts of major international conferences between inception and 15 December 2013 were searched. Two evaluators independently extracted data. The end-points assessed consisted of the pathological complete response (pCR) rate, breast-conserving surgery (BCS) rate and the occurrence of adverse events. Four randomized controlled trials were assessed in the present study, involving a total of 779 participants. Compared with the patients who did not receive lapatinib, the pCR rate was higher in the hormone receptor (HR)-positive [risk ratio (RR), 1.39; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.12–1.72; P=0.002) and HR-negative (RR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.14–1.68; P=0.0009) patients that received lapatinib. No significant difference between the BCS rate of the two treatment arms was observed in two trials (n=382; RR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.89–1.47; P=0.31). The primary adverse events, including diarrhea, dermatological toxicity, hepatic toxicity and neutropenia, were statistically more frequent in patients that received lapatinib (RR, 2.46; 95% CI, 1.97–3.07; P

Cancers are characterized by an increasing glycolytic activity, which is called the Warburg effect. Although this phenomenon is well known, the mechanism of the enhanced rate of glycolysis in cancer has not yet been clearly recognized. The present study investigated the glycolytic rate, regulatory enzymatic activities and the expression of phosphofructokinase-1 (PFK-1) in human breast cancer and paracancer tissues. Human breast cancer tissues have an increased degree of glycolytic efficiency and regulatory enzymatic activities, which have been shown in previous studies. However, the present study identified a number of novel observations. The total PFK-1 levels were higher in human breast cancer tissues than in paracancer tissues, and further investigations revealed differential PFK-1 isoenzyme expression patterns between human breast cancer and paracancer tissues. The human breast cancer and paracancer tissues mainly expressed PFK-P and PFK-L isoforms, respectively. Linear-regression analysis showed that, depending on the pathological stage of breast cancer, the expression of PFK-P was significantly positively correlated with the activity of PFK-1. Thus, during the development of human breast cancer, the enhancement of glycolytic activity depends primarily on the conversion of the PFK-1, from PFK-L to PFK-P.

Ki67 has potential prognostic and predictive values for breast cancer patients, and has become an important biomarker in routine clinical practice. The aims of the present study were to investigate the distribution of Ki67 expression and its correlation with other clinicopathological parameters in central China. In total, 1,259 patients with newly-diagnosed invasive breast cancer were included in the present study. The clinical information was obtained from the electronic medical records. The expression levels of Ki67, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) were detected by immunohistochemical analysis. The associations between Ki67 scores and other prognostic factors were evaluated as continuous and categorical variables. The mean value of the Ki67 scores of all patients was 31%. In total, ~36% (456/1,259) of the patients demonstrated a low expression of Ki67. A statistically significant correlation was identified between the mean Ki67 scores and the lymph node status, tumor grade, ER, PR and HER2 status, and clinical stage or molecular subtypes (all P14%) and low (≤14%) level groups, the χ2 test was used to verify these results. The Ki67 scores demonstrated no statistically significant differences between the HER2-positive (non-luminal) and three negative subtypes, with the exception of patients with a tumor size of >2 cm (P=0.02). In conclusion, the results revealed the presence of significant correlations between Ki67 and other clinicopathological parameters.