Gene network analyses suggested that MYC and TBX2 were the most significant upstream transcription factors in the breast cancers with high glucose uptake.
Finally, we show that TBX2 and CST6 displayed reciprocal expression in a cohort of primary breast cancers with increased TBX2 expression associating with increased metastases.
TBX2 is preferentially amplified in BRCA1/2-associated breast cancers and TBX3 overexpression has been associated with advanced stage disease and estrogen-receptor-positive breast tumors.
TBX2 is one of the family of genes encoding developmental transcription factors, characterized by a 200 amino acid DNA binding domain (T-box), found to be related to malignant phenotypes of mammary cancer.
Moreover, our current and previous results emphasize the interaction between phenotype and genotype in BRCA1/2-related breast cancers and that a combination of morphologic features and alterations of ERBB2, MYC, and TBX2 may better define mechanisms of tumor progression, as well as determine which patients are more likely to carry BRCA1/2 mutations.
In addition, TBX2, a homologue of TBX3, is active in preventing senescence in rodent cells and was found to be amplified in some human breast cancers, suggesting TBX3 plays a role in breast cancer.