Expression Levels of Tetraspanin KAI1/CD82 in Breast Cancers in North Indian Females

Background: Carcinogenesis is a multifaceted intricate cellular mechanism of transformation of the normal functions of a cell into neoplastic alterations. Metastasis may result in failure of conventional treatment and death Hence, research on metastatic suppressors in cancer is a high priority. The metastatic suppressor gene CD82, also known as KAI1, is a member of the transmembrane 4 superfamily which was first identified in carcinoma of prostate. Little work has been done on this gene in breast cancer. Herein, we aimed to determine the gene and protein level expression of CD82/KAI1 in breast cancer and its role as a prognosticator. Materials and Methods: In this study, 83 histologically proven cases of breast cancer and a similar number of controls were included. Patient age ranged from 18-70 years. Quantitative Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (q-RT PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to investigate KAI1 expression at gene and protein levels, respectively. Statistical analysis was done to correlate expression of KAI1 and clinicopathological parameters. Results: It was revealed that: (i) KAI1 was remarkably diminished in metastatic vs non metastatic breast cancer both at the gene and the protein levels (P < .05); (ii) KAI1 expression levels were strongly correlated with TNM staging, histological grade and advanced stage (p<0.001) and no association was found with any other studied parameter; (iii) Lastly, a significant correlation was observed between expression of KAI1 and overall median survival of BC patients (P = 0.04). Conclusions: Our results suggest that lack of expression of the KAI1 might indicate a more aggressive form of breast cancer. Loss of KAI1 may be considered a significant prognostic marker in predicting metastatic manifestation. When evaluated along with the clinical and pathological factors, KAI1 expression may be beneficial to tailor aggressive therapeutic strategies for such patients.