Expression of thyroid hormone responsive spot 14 homolog and thyroid hormone receptor β1 in human breast cancer tissues and its clinical significance

Aims: The present study is to investigate the expression of thyroid hormone responsive spot 14 homolog (Thrsp) and thyroid hormone receptor β1 (TRβ1) proteins in human breast cancer tissues and adjacent tissues, as well as its relationship with clinical pathological data of breast cancer patients. Methods: A total of 112 Uygur and Han patients with breast invasive ductal carcinoma and lobular carcinoma who were diagnosed by pathology and underwent radical surgery at the Fifth Affiliated Hospital or the Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University between January 2012 and January 2015 were randomly selected into the present study. Expression of Thrsp and TRβ1 was determined using immunohistochemical staining. The correlation of the expression of Thrsp and TRβ1 with the clinical and pathological data of the patients was analyzed using χ2 test. The correlation between Thrsp protein expression and TRβ1 protein expression was also investigated. Results: The positive expression rate of Thrsp in breast cancer tissues was higher than that in tumor-adjacent tissues, but the positive expression rate of TRβ1 in breast cancer tissues was lower than that in tumor-adjacent tissues. Thrsp and TRβ1 were mainly expressed in the nucleus, with only a little being expressed in the cytoplasm. Expression of Thrsp or TRβ1 was correlated with different clinical and pathological data of breast cancer patients. Thrsp protein expression was related with TRβ1 protein expression in breast cancer tissues. Conclusions: The present study demonstrates that TRβ1 and Thrsp are not independent prognostic factors for breast cancer. Thyroid hormone/TRβ1/Thrsp may be involved in energy and substance metabolisms in breast cancer cells, and affect their mitotic process.