Negative association between GATA3 and fascin could predict relapse-free and overall survival in patients with breast cancer

GATA3 and fascin proteins are known prognostic markers in several cancers. GATA3 is a key regulator of mammary gland morphogenesis and luminal cell differentiation, whereas fascin is a pro-metastatic actin-bundling protein. In this study, we analyzed and compared the predictive abilities of GATA3 and fascin for clinical outcomes of patients with breast cancer. The combined expression pattern based on GATA3-/+ and fascin-/+ was evaluated by immunostaining using a tissue microarray, and relationships between protein expression and several clinicopathological parameters were analyzed. GATA3 expression was associated with good prognostic parameters, but fascin was correlated with poor prognostic parameters. On comparing GATA3 and fascin, we found an inverse relationship between fascin and GATA3 expressions. On analysis of combined markers, GATA3+/fascin- was correlated with improved clinical outcomes compared to GATA3-/fascin+. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed significant differences in relapse-free and overall survival between GATA3+/fascin- and GATA3-/fascin+. Combined marker analysis of GATA3/fascin showed an inverse association and improved prognostic information for patients with breast cancer.