Figure 6. Clinical relevance of LDHA expression under chronic stress.

(A) Representative immunohistochemistry photomicrographs of tissues stained with indicated antibodies in patients with breast cancer (Epi^lo, n = 42; and Epi^hi, n = 41). Scale bar: 50 μm; original magnification, ×20, ×40, ×96 (enlarged insets). (B) Immunoblot analysis of proteins in breast cancer tissues (T) and adjacent normal breast tissues (N); n = 5. (C) Expression of mRNA for the indicated genes in MDA-MB-231-2D cells or spheres was measured by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR; n = 3 (Student’s t test). (D) Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival and disease-free survival of patients with breast cancer, according to the serum Epi concentrations (Epi^lo, n = 42; and Epi^hi, n = 41). Eighty-three patients were in the data set (log-rank test). (E) Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival and disease-free survival of patients with breast cancer, according to LDHA expression (LDHA^lo, n = 30; and LDHA^hi, n = 41). Seventy-one patients were in the data set (log-rank test). (F) Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival and disease-free survival of patients with breast cancer expressing high or low LDHA together with high or low serum Epi. Seventy-one patients were in the data set (log-rank test). Data are representative of at least 3 independent experiments. Data represent mean ± SEM; ***P < 0.001.