FIGURE 2.

ELEANOR expression in primary tumors could predict less negative conversion of estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PgR) expression in recurrence. (A) Kaplan–Meier analysis showing the time to recurrence in patients with the indicated ELEANOR status in their primary tumors (n = 139, Wilcoxon test). Numbers at risk at each time point are shown. The ELEANOR+ patients relapsed later than the ELEANOR– patients. (B) FISH analysis of ELEANOR expression in pairs of primary and metastatic breast cancers (n = 139). Representative cases in which ELEANORS remained negative (− to −), remained positive (+ to +), changed from negative to positive (− to +) and from positive to negative (+ to −) after metastasis are shown from top to bottom. All primary tumors tested in this study are ER‐positive. Scale bars, 10 μm. (C) Mosaic plots showing the rates of changes in the ER (left) and PgR (right) statuses after metastasis. Patients without ELEANOR expression in their primary tumors (–) had higher frequencies of negative conversions of ER and PgR expression (dark blue area), while those with ELEANOR expression in their primary tumors (+) tended to maintain ER and PgR expression (purple area). Actual numbers are shown in each area (total, n = 139). p values were calculated from Pearson's χ²‐test to evaluate the correlation between primary ELEANOR expression and each negative conversion