The Wnt Pathway Components are Upregulated in Different Molecular Subtypes of Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Patients of Breast

Wnt/β-catenin pathway is a key pathway associated with the development of breast cancer. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the expression of Wnt pathway components in primary invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) patients of breast and explore their relation with clinico-pathological parameters as well as the prognostic significance. The study comprised of 160 IDC patients classified into different molecular subtypes and who have undergone surgery as the primary treatment. The expression of important pathway components- Fzd7, β-catenin and cyclin D1 was detected by immunehistochemical staining and analyzed using H-score method. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS and p≤0.05 were considered significant. Fzd7 was significantly over-expressed in breast tumours with smaller size and metastatic lymph nodes. The expression of Fzd7, β-catenin and cyclin D1 were associated with grade 2 tumours than grade 3 tumours. Upon correlating with the hormone receptors, the molecules were found to be positively related to the receptor positivity. Also, the patients comprising Luminal subtypes exhibited higher expression of the molecules than the triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtype. Finally, Fzd7 and cyclin D1 emerged as the significant prognosticator of overall survival (OS) in patients with grade 3 tumours and TNBC, respectively. Wnt pathway components are up regulated during the early stages of the breast cancer development with a loss during the disease advancement. Althoughthe pathway failed to predict the prognosis in total breast cancer patients, in patient subgroups having grade 3 tumours and TNBC, Fzd7 and cyclin D1 were found to be significant predictors of OS.