Abstract: Objective To explore the expression of CXCR4 and SDF1 in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).Methods A total of 88 cases of TNBC confirmed by surgical pathology in Xiangyang Central Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology from February 2016 to June 2018 were selected as the observation group,and 60 cases of normal breast tissues adjacent to the tumor resection specimens were selected as the control group.The expression of CXCR4 and SDF1 proteins in the two groups of specimens was detected by immunohistochemical staining.Bioinformatics was used to analyze the mRNA expression of CXCR4 and SDF1 in TNBC and normal tissues.The χ2 test was used to determine the correlation between the expression of CXCR4 and SDF1 and the clinicopathological characteristics of TNBC patients.Results The positive expression rates of CXCR4 and SDF1 in TNBC were 67.0% (59/88) and 73.8% (65/88),respectively,which were significantly higher than those in normal breast tissue adjacent to cancer (28.3% (17/60) and 41.7% (25/60),respectively),and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05).The expression of CXCR4 and SDF1 was correlated with the clinical stage,ki-67 index,vascular tumor thrombus and lymph node metastasis of TNBC (P<0.05).Survival analysis showed that positive expression of CXCR4 was associated with poor overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in TNBC patients,while positive expression of SDF1 was associated with better OS and DFS.Cox proportional hazards model showed that positive expression of CXCR4,lymphatic metastasis and high expression of Ki-67 were independent risk factors for the prognosis of TNBC patients (P<0.05),while positive expression of SDF1 was a protective factor for prognosis (P<0.05,HR=0.427).Conclusion CXCR4 and SDF1 are highly expressed in TNBC,and CXCR4 and SDF1 may serve as potential prognostic markers for TNBC.

Key words: triple-negative breast cancer, immunohistochemistry, clinical pathology, prognosis