FST expression was examined using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and immunohistochemistry in a cohort of breast cancer samples.
In summary, MCF7 cells show high chemosensitivity to Follistatin and especially GDF8 and both proteins might serve as targets to improve systemic treatment in breast cancer.
Despite experimental evidence that follistatin can modulate the breast cancer cell cycle, the clinical significance of follistatin expression in these tumors is unknown.
Examination of multiple breast cancer datasets revealed that FST expression is reduced in breast cancers compared with normal tissue and that low FST expression predicts increased metastasis and reduced overall survival.
As activin displays an anti-proliferative effect in human mammary cells, the present findings indicate that an increased FST and FLRG expression in breast proliferative diseases might counteract the anti-proliferative effects of activin in human breast cancer.