Prognostic significance of fatty acid binding protein-4 in the invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast

We conducted this study to identify clinico-pathologic and prognostic factors that are associated with fatty acid binding protein-4 (FABP4) and to discuss its therapeutic potentials in patients with breast cancer (BC). In a total of 75 patients with an established diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast, we performed a retrospective analysis of the medical records and analyzed their immunohistochemical findings. Following evaluation of baseline and clinico-pathological characteristics such as the age, immunohistochemical expressions of FABP4, TNM stage, tumor grade, lymphatic and perineural invasion, estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR), disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), recurrence and death, we analyzed correlations of the expression of FABP4 with clinico-pathologic and prognostic factors. Our results showed that tumor grade and recurrence had a significant correlation with the expression of FABP4 (P = 0.002 and 0.049, respectively). Moreover, we also found that the DFS had a significant correlation with the expression of FABP4 (P = 0.049). It can therefore be concluded that the expression of FABP4 might have a prognostic value in patients with BC. But further studies are warranted to establish its potentials as a prognostic indicator.