ArticleBreast cancer research and treatment2019
Connexin 43 is an independent predictor of patient outcome in breast cancer patients.
Article in Breast cancer research and treatment, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Simvastatin Enhances the Cytotoxic Effects of Doxorubicin in a Mammary Adenocarcinoma Cell Model by Involving Connexin 43.Journal of biochemical and molecular toxicology · 2025Article
- CYLD Alterations Are Associated With Metastasis and Poor Prognosis in Human Papilloma Virus-Positive Head and Neck Cancer.Head & neck · 2025Article
- Connexin 43 Expression as Biomarker of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Its Association with Human Papillomavirus 16 and 18.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Construction of the bromodomain-containing protein-associated prognostic model in triple-negative breast cancer.Cancer cell international · 2025Article
- Connexin-43 in Cancer: Above and Beyond Gap Junctions!Cancers · 2024Review
- Investigating the interplay between the mir-183/182/96 cluster and the adherens junction pathway in early-stage breast cancer.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Integrative analyses identified gap junction beta-2 as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for breast cancer.Cancer innovation · 2024Article
- Impairment of α-tubulin and F-actin interactions of GJB3 induces aneuploidy in urothelial cells and promotes bladder cancer cell invasion.Cellular & molecular biology letters · 2024Article
- Comprehensive Pan-Cancer Analysis of Connexin 43 as a Potential Biomarker and Therapeutic Target in Human Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma (KIRC).Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Article
- Software BreastAnalyser for the semi-automatic analysis of breast cancer immunohistochemical images.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- In vivo validation of the functional role of MicroRNA-4638-3p in breast cancer bone metastasis.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2024Article
- Connexin 45 is a novel suppressor of melanoma metastasis.Cytotechnology · 2023Article
- Ubiquitin-Related Modifier 1 (URM-1) Modulates Cx43 in Breast Cancer Cell Lines.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- The Multifaceted Role of Connexins in Tumor Microenvironment Initiation and Maintenance.Biology · 2023Review
- Over-expression of miR-183-5p or miR-492 triggers invasion and proliferation and loss of polarity in non-neoplastic breast epithelium.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- The role of connexins in breast cancer: from misregulated cell communication to aberrant intracellular signaling.Tissue barriers · 2022Review
- Expression of NEDD9 and connexin-43 in neoplastic and stromal cells of gastric adenocarcinoma.Bosnian journal of basic medical sciences · 2021Article
- A risk progression breast epithelial 3D culture model reveals Cx43/hsa_circ_0077755/miR-182 as a biomarker axis for heightened risk of breast cancer initiation.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Abnormal Expression of Connexin43 in Cardiac Injury Induced by S-Band and X-Band Microwave Exposure in Rats.Journal of immunology research · 2021Article
- Cx43 deficiency confers EMT-mediated tamoxifen resistance to breast cancer via c-Src/PI3K/Akt pathway.International journal of biological sciences · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeGap junctions are specialized membrane structures that form channels between adjacent cells allowing cell communication. Gap junctions and specifically Connexin 43 (Cx43) are down-regulated in cancer; however, there are contrasting reports on how this effects breast cancer patient survival. This paper is the first large-scale tissue microarray analysis of Cx43 expression in breast cancer patients with an associated clinical long-term follow-up.
methodsUsing a validated TMA of 1118 primary breast cancers, coupled to a comprehensive database of clinicopathological variables, the expression levels and subcellular localisation of Cx43 was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Its impact in terms of survival, distant metastasis-free survival, and clinicopathological variables was determined.
resultsPatients whose tumors expressed high levels of Cx43 had significantly better survival (p < 0.001) than patients with low levels. High Cx43 expression within tumors was associated with an 18-month survival advantage. Loss of Cx43 expression was associated with markers of poor prognosis, namely large tumor size, high grade, high proliferation status, high pleomorphism, high mitosis, poor Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI), and triple negative tumors. Cx43 expression was independent of tumor size, grade, stage and ER-status in predicting poor survival on multivariate analysis (p = 0.004).
conclusionConnexin 43 (Cx43) is an independent predictor of breast cancer survival and distant metastasis-free survival. High expression of Cx43 was seen in only 13% of tumors, suggesting that drugs to increase Cx43 expression may result in prolonged patients survival.
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