Hemoglobin overexpression and splice signature as new features of inflammatory breast cancer?

Introduction: Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) is the most aggressive form of breast carcinoma characterized by rapid onset of inflammatory signs and its molecular fingerprint has not yet been elucidated. Objectives: The objective of this study was to detect both gene expression levels and alternate RNA splice variants specific for IBC. Methods: W e performed splice-sensitive array profiling using Affymetrix Exon Array and quantitative RT-PCR analyses in 177 IBC compared to 183 non-IBC. We also assessed the prognostic value of the identified candidate genes and splice variants. Results: A 5-splice signature (HSPA8, RPL10, RPL4, DIDO1 and EVL) was able to distinguish IBC from non-IBC tumors (p