Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33640902›Full record

ArticleJournal of human genetics2021

Loss of BRCA1 expression and morphological features associated with BRCA1 promoter methylation status in triple-negative breast cancer.

Arisa Morizono, Masahiko Tanabe, Masako Ikemura, Takeshi Sasaki, Tetsuo Ushiku, Yasuyuki Seto

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of human genetics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 27% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Genes · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. BRCA1/2 methylation and expression dynamics in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer: insights from gene, protein, and TCGA analysis.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Arisa MorizonoDepartment of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4727-0924
Masahiko TanabeDepartment of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. mtanabe-tky@umin.ac.jp.
Masako IkemuraDepartment of Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Takeshi SasakiDepartment of Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Tetsuo UshikuDepartment of Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Yasuyuki SetoDepartment of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
The University of Tokyo · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Aberrant DNA methylation in the BRCA1 promoter region causes epigenetic silencing of BRCA1 gene expression, which is critical for breast cancer development. However, how BRCA1 promoter methylation status alters histological features remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the possibility to predict BRCA1 promoter methylation status based on the morphological and immunohistochemical features of triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs). The morphological features of 53 TNBCs were evaluated with hematoxylin-eosin staining, with immunohistochemical staining of BRCA1, androgen receptor, p53, cytokeratin 5/6, and epidermal growth factor receptor. BRCA1 promoter methylation status was used to distinguish BRCA1 promoter-methylated tumors (BPMTs) from BRCA1 promoter-unmethylated tumors (BPUTs) dependent on pathological characteristics. BPMTs comprised approximately 26% of the TNBCs. Immunohistochemical analysis found that BRCA1 protein expression was significantly lower in BPMT compared with BPUT (p = 0.016). Morphologically, BPMTs were associated with high mitotic index (p = 0.017), pushing margin (p = 0.017), a circumscribed growth pattern (p = 0.014), and a syncytial growth pattern (p = 0.034) compared with BPUTs. We then assessed the potential of predicting BRCA1 promoter methylation status by using published score systems based on these morphological characteristics. A receiver operating characteristic analysis showed an area under the curve of 0.80. This study found that BRCA1 promoter methylation status could be derived from morphological features and lower BRCA1 expression of TNBCs, which may help identify suitable cases for target treatment with PARP inhibitors.

Indexed as

Promoter Regions, GeneticBiomarkers, TumorBRCA1 ProteinDNA MethylationEpigenesis, GeneticFemaleHumansImmunohistochemistryTriple Negative Breast NeoplasmsBiomarkers, TumorBRCA1 ProteinBRCA1 protein, human

Identifiers

PMID33640902
OpenAlexW3133830278

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.