Aquaporin 1 (AQP1) expression is a novel characteristic feature of a particularly aggressive subgroup of basal-like breast carcinomas

Aquaporin1 (AQP1) is a water channel protein that facilitates water flux across cell membranes. It is widely expressed in epithelial and endothelial cells in several tissues. AQP1 is also associated with angiogenesis, cell migration and metastasis in some human malignancies. In this study the immunohistochemical expression of AQP1 in 203 invasive breast carcinomas with long-term follow up was investigated. AQP1 expression was demonstrated in 11 tumours (5.4%) and showed highly significant correlation with high tumour grade, medullary-like histology, triple-negativity, cytokeratin 14 and smooth muscle actin expression. In univariate analysis, AQP1 was significantly associated with poor prognosis. In multivariate analysis, AQP1 expression proved to be an independent prognostic marker if stratified by age, tumour size, lymph node status, histological grade, ER status and CMF therapy. Our results strongly suggest that AQP1 expression is a new characteristic feature of a particularly aggressive subgroup of basal-like breast carcinomas.