Expression of methylation-controlled J protein (MCJ) may be an indicator of successful outcomes and reduced risk of relapse in patients with breast cancer, according to a recent study.
Chemotherapy is a key part of care for patients with breast cancer who present without estrogen and progesterone receptors and the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. However, while many patients respond well to chemotherapy, a significant portion of patients still go on to develop recurrent tumors resistant to chemotherapy.
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In a study published in JCI Insight, researchers investigated the correlation between MCJ expression and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer.
Biopsies were collected from 62 patients, 58 of which were diagnosed as malignant. Eighteen patients (31%) were treated with neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgery to remove any residual cancer. Tumor samples were then broken up into three groups: those with negative or low levels of MCJ expression, those with intermediate levels of expression, and those with high levels of expression.
Overall, researchers led by Maria J Fernandez-Cabezudo, PhD, BSc, United Arab Emirates University, determined that patients with low levels of MCJ expression had a greater residual cancer burden after surgery, indicating a potential association between MCJ and poor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Additional statistical modeling revealed that patients in the high-expression group also had a significantly higher relapse-free survival rate compared with the low-expression group.
“Our study provides evidence that low expression of MCJ protein is associated with poor response to chemotherapy in human breast cancer, identifying MCJ as a new marker to predict chemotherapy response.” Authors of the study concluded. “Thus, MCJ is a therapeutic target for breast cancer treatment… agonists could be used in combination with standard chemotherapeutic drugs to overcome chemoresistance, not only in primary cancers, but also in metastatic cancers that are highly refractory to any conventional therapies.”
