Association of SOX10 Immunohistochemical Expression with Triple Negative Breast cancer

Abstract Background: The term triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) refers to a particular class of aggressive, poorly differentiated neoplasms that show the absence of estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor2 (HER2) antibodies. The aim of this study is to assess the immunohistochemical expression of SOX10 in TNBC, its correlation with tumor grade and other clinicopathologic characteristics. Materials and methods: A Cross sectional study which included thirty paraffin blocks of primary (TNBC) , that were collected from Karbala teaching centre of histopathology in the period (from Jan. 2023 to Dec. 2023). For each of the collected block, two sections were taken. One stained by hematoxylin and eosin and the other was stained by immunohistochemical method for SOX10. Results: SOX10 reported positive in 43% (13) positive cases versus 57% (17) negative cases, this positivity was significantly correlated with pathological grade (p value =0.012) and the pathological stage (p value =0.038). A particular statistical significance was found in association with the lymph node group and distant metastasis. (p value 0.039 and 0.037) respectively. No significant statistical difference between SOX10 expression and the patient’s age, tumor size, presence of Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and lymphovascular invasion. Conclusion: The study suggested that SOX10 expression is a prognostic biomarker for TNBC. It also highlighted the clinical significance of targeting SOX10 as a promising potential therapeutic target gene for TNBC therapy. Keywords: SOX10; triple negative breast cancer; immunohistochemistry.