PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Li, Yuwei
AU  - Xu, Yuzheng
AU  - Lin, Caijin
AU  - Jin, Xi
AU  - Ma, Ding
AU  - Shao, Zhiming
TI  - Calcification-associated molecular traits and therapeutic strategies in hormone receptor-positive HER2-negative breast cancer
AID  - 10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2023.0492
DP  - 2024 May 15
TA  - Cancer Biology & Medicine
PG  - 400--415
VI  - 21
IP  - 5
4099  - http://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/21/5/400.short
4100  - http://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/21/5/400.full
SO  - Cancer Biology & Medicine2024 May 15; 21
AB  - Objective: Mammographic calcifications are a common feature of breast cancer, but their molecular characteristics and treatment implications in hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2−) breast cancer remain unclear.Methods: We retrospectively collected mammography records of an HR+/HER2− breast cancer cohort (n = 316) with matched clinicopathological, genomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic data. On the basis of mammographic images, we grouped tumors by calcification status into calcification-negative tumors, tumors with probably benign calcifications, tumors with calcification of low-moderate suspicion for maligancy and tumors with calcification of high suspicion for maligancy. We then explored the molecular characteristics associated with each calcification status across multiple dimensions.Results: Among the different statuses, tumors with probably benign calcifications exhibited elevated hormone receptor immunohistochemical staining scores, estrogen receptor (ER) pathway activation, lipid metabolism, and sensitivity to endocrine therapy. Tumors with calcifications of high suspicion for malignancy had relatively larger tumor sizes, elevated lymph node metastasis incidence, Ki-67 staining scores, genomic instability, cell cycle pathway activation, and may benefit from cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors.Conclusions: Our research established links between tumor calcifications and molecular features, thus proposing potential precision treatment strategies for HR+/HER2− breast cancer.The data generated in this study are publicly available in the Genome Sequence Archive (GSA) database under accession code PRJCA017539 (https://ngdc.cncb.ac.cn/bioproject/browse/PRJCA017539).