Clinical diagnostic and prognostic value of plasma Hsp90α in invasive breast cancer

Abstract

Invasive breast cancer (IBC) is the most common type of breast cancer. This study aimed to determine whether plasma Hsp90α could be an effective diagnostic and prognostic indicator in IBC patients. The plasma of 545 IBC and 103 non-IBC (NIBC) patients and 189 healthy controls (HC) were collected, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine the levels of plasma Hsp90α. The accuracy of Hsp90α, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and carbohydrate antigen 153 (CA153) for diagnosing IBC were assessed based on the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests were employed to analyze the association between plasma Hsp90α levels and progression-free survival (PFS).In the IBC cohort, the plasma levels of Hsp90α were associated with cancer invasion, TNM (Tumor Node Metastasis) stage, and CEA and CA153 levels, and they were remarkably higher in IBC and NIBC than in control. ROC results revealed the AUC values of Hsp90α plasma level in IBC and NIBC were 0.877 (95% CI(Confidence Interval): 0.851–0.900, p < 0.001) and 0.647 (95% CI: 0.589–0.702, p < 0.001). The AUC values of the combination of Hsp90α with CEA and CA153 in IBC and NIBC were 0.903 (95% CI: 0.880–0.924, p < 0.001) and 0.722 (95% CI: 0.667–0.773, p < 0.001). Further, patients with high levels (>81.4 ng/mL) of plasma Hsp90α had a worse PFS than those with low Hsp90α in IBC.Plasma Hsp90α levels could be a reliable diagnostic and prognostic marker in IBC. High plasma Hsp90α levels in IBC was associated with worse PFS.