Abstract
Malignant transformation in invasive breast cancer (IBC) is the result of the accumulation of successive mutations in critical regions of the genome. Another important mechanism for controlling malignant progression is cellular senescence. Although some research suggests its protective role, recent studies have shown that senescence has a significant impact on the development and progression of cancer. The aim of our work is to examine the potential prognostic value of a specific senescence marker, β galactosidase (GLB1). The investigation encompassed a cohort of 147 individuals diagnosed with IBC. In each case of IBC, the occurrence of Non-Invasive Lesions (NIL) was recorded. The assessment of GLB1 expression was conducted by quantifying the percentage of nuclear expression in epithelial cells of both IBC and NIL. Upon examination of the data, it was ascertained that the expression of GLB1 was markedly elevated in IBC in comparison to NIL, with statistical significance (p<0.001). Furthermore, disparities in GLB1 expression across various molecular subtypes of breast cancer were observed (p<0.001), presenting the most pronounced expression in the HER2-positive (HER2+) subtype of IBC, whereas the Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) subtype exhibited the minimal GLB1 expression. Additionally, a substantial variance in GLB1 expression was noted contingent on the presence of HER2 expression (p<0.001). We can conclude that examining the presence of cellular senescence using GLB1 can facilitate the differentiation of NIL from IBC, as well as indicate the prognosis of the disease itself.