ArticleBMC cancer2023
Analysis of stromal PDGFR-β and α-SMA expression and their clinical relevance in brain metastases of breast cancer patients.
Article in BMC cancer, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Origin of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) in Brain Metastases: Seven Hypotheses and Current Evidence.Cancers · 2026Review
- Crosstalk in the brain tumor microenvironment: mechanisms, therapeutic strategies, and clinical advances.Military Medical Research · 2026Review
- Characterisation and impact of intratumoural stroma in melanoma and carcinoma brain metastases.The journal of pathology. Clinical research · 2026Article
- Crosstalk between heterogeneous cancer-associated fibroblast subpopulations and the immune system in breast cancer: key players and promising therapeutic targets.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2025Review
- EGFRvIII-driven microenvironmental fibroblast activation and transformation accelerate oral cancer progression via lipocalin-2/STAT3 axis.Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Influence ofIranian journal of microbiology · 2025Article
- Molecular and morphological alterations in breast tissue of transgender patients undergoing dihydrotestosterone therapy.PloS one · 2025Article
- Functional and clinical roles of stromal PDGF receptors in tumor biology.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2024Review
- The role of cancer-associated fibroblasts in breast cancer metastasis.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Review
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBreast cancer brain metastasis (BCBM) is a growing therapeutic challenge and clinical concern. Stromal cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are crucial factors in the modulation of tumorigeneses and metastases. Herein, we investigated the relationship between the expression of stromal CAF markers in metastatic sites, platelet-derived growth factor receptor-beta (PDGFR-β), and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and the clinical and prognostic variables in BCBM patients.
methodsImmunohistochemistry (IHC) of the stromal expression of PDGFR-β and α-SMA was performed on 50 cases of surgically resected BCBM. The expression of the CAF markers was analyzed in the context of clinico-pathological characteristics.
resultsExpression of PDGFR-β and α-SMA was lower in the triple-negative (TN) subtype than in other molecular subtypes (p = 0.073 and p = 0.016, respectively). And their expressions were related to a specific pattern of CAF distribution (PDGFR-β, p = 0.009; α-SMA, p = 0.043) and BM solidity (p = 0.009 and p = 0.002, respectively). High PDGFR-β expression was significantly related to longer recurrence-free survival (RFS) (p = 0.011). TN molecular subtype and PDGFR-β expression were independent prognostic factors of recurrence-free survival (p = 0.029 and p = 0.030, respectively) and TN molecular subtype was an independent prognostic factor of overall survival (p < 0.001).
conclusionsExpression of PDGFR-β in the stroma of BM was associated with RFS in BCBM patients, and the clinical implication was uniquely linked to the low expression of PDGFR-β and α-SMA in the aggressive form of the TN subtype.
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