Journal of Molecular Biomarkers & Diagnosis

Aberrant Expression of N-Glycolyl GM3 Ganglioside Correlates with Nuclear Grade in Stage II/III Resectable Estrogen and Progesterone Receptors Positive Breast Cancer

Abstract

María Caridad Rubio-Hernández, Anabely Estévez-García, Adanays Calvo-Pérez, Damián Blanco-Santana, Orlando Valdés-Guerrero, Yenia Diaz-Prado, Janet Lamadrid-García, Patricia Lorenzo-Luaces, Carmen Viada-González, Rancés Blanco-Santana and Luis Enrique Fernández

The expression of N-glycolyl GM3 ganglioside (NGcGM3) in breast cancer was previously reported. However, the role of this molecule in the biological behavior of breast cancer still remains unclear. The aim of the present work was to assess a possible relationship between the expression of the evolutionary-fixed tumor neoantigen NGcGM3 ganglioside with clinicopathological parameters and the aggressiveness of breast tumors. 126 stage II/III breast tumors, obtained from patients participating in a phase III clinical trial with the GlycoVaxGM3 cancer vaccine, were clinically, molecularly and pathologically classified. An immunohistochemical study was performed using the 14F7 antibody, specific for NGcGM3, in order to measure the staining intensity and percentage of positive cells. The NGcGM3 expression in estrogen and progesterone receptors positive tumors was not associated with age, race, menopausal status, tumor size, lymph node status and stage. Nevertheless a significant increase in the presence of this cancer neoantigen in tumor tissue samples was mostly found in tumors displaying higher nuclear grades II and III when compared with grade I ones. Overall these results indicate a relationship between NGcGM3 expression and a more aggressive biological behavior of estrogen and progesterone receptors positive breast tumors, additionally sustaining this molecule as an attractive target for breast cancer immunotherapy.