Tenascin C is a prognostic determinant and potential cancer-associated fibroblasts marker for breast ductal carcinoma

Tenascin C (TNC) is a key of extracellular matrix glycoprotein and highly express in numerous human malignancies. Herein, we attempted to clarify the clinicopathological significance of TNC as a prognostic determinant of breast ductal carcinoma. Then, we investigated TNC immunohistochemical expression in 150 breast ductal carcinomas and 27 normal breast tissue samples. Clinical relevance of TNC expression and the association TNC expression with other factors related to cancer-associated fibroblasts were also examined. In results, TNC expression was significantly higher in breast ductal carcinoma (56.0%) than normal breast tissues (25.9%). The upregulation TNC in cancer stromal were associated with pT stage (P = 0.003), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.002) and tumor node metastasis stage (P = 0.001), also was correlated with an increase in tumor-associated macrophage population (P < 0.001). The microvessel density (MVD) was significantly higher in TNC positive group than in negative group (P < 0.001). In both univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses, TNC was an independent poor prognostic factor for overall survival (OS) in breast ductal carcinoma patients. Importantly, over-expression TNC (P < 0.001), FSP1 (P < 0.001), SMA (P = 0.002) and Vimentin (P = 0.049) were significantly correlation with the lower OS (P < 0.005). In addition, TNC expression in breast ductal carcinoma stromal was positively correlated with FSP1 (P < 0.001), SMA (P = 0.001) and Vimentin (P < 0.001). In conclusion, the high expression of TNC could be a useful cancer-associated fibroblasts marker for the prediction of prognosis of breast ductal carcinoma patients.