BATF2 gene expression in breast cancer samples and its association with clinical factors and patients' survival

BATF2 (Basic leucine zipper transcription factor 2) is related to some cancer types, and dysregulation of BATF2 expression is frequently detected in aggressive and metastatic cancers. The expression of BATF2 was revealed to inhibit the development of malignant tumor cells and decreased expression of BATF2 has been correlated to poor prognosis in different cancer. However, the role of BATF2 in breast cancer has been less known. Therefore, this study was performed with aim to investigate the BATF2 gene expression in breast cancer.

In this case-control study which was performed in 2016-2018, 40 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissues and 40 adjacent non-tumor tissues were evaluated. After total RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, relative gene expression was accomplished by Real-Time PCR and evaluated by  method. Also, the association of gene expression with clinical factors and survival rate was evaluated. Data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software (version 22) and T and ANOVA tests. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

BATF2 expression was significantly decreased in the breast tumor tissues compared with the non-tumor tissues (P=0.0001). Consistent with these results, BATF2 expression was correlated with metastasis and high tumor grade (P= 0.008 and P=0.01, respectively). As well as, decreased BATF2 expression showed reduced overall survival when compared to those with high expression (P=0.03).

BATF2 plays a tumor-suppressor role in the development of breast cancer. Also, decreased BATF2 expression is associated with the metastasis as well as poor prognosis of cancer. Therefore, BATF2 may serve as a prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for this disease. However, further investigation is needed to validate this claim.