Elevated expression of HABP1 is a novel prognostic indicator in triple-negative breast cancers

Hyaluronan-binding protein 1 (HABP1) has been documented to overexpress in several malignancies. The aim of our study is to investigate the expression of HABP1 protein in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and its clinical significance. Using immunohistochemistry, HABP1 expression was evaluated in 139 TNBC specimens. The association between HABP1 expression with clinicopathological parameters was assessed using chi-square test. The survival status of patients was analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier and log-rank tests. Cox regression was used for the multivariate analysis of prognostic factors. The results showed that HABP1 overexpression correlated with higher histological grade (P = 0.004), advanced TNM stage (P = 0.008), greater tumor size (P = 0.016), metastasis of lymph node (P < 0.001), and recurrence (P = 0.040). Furthermore, it indicated that patients with HABP1 overexpression had significantly poorer overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) compared with patients (P < 0.001 for both). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that elevated HABP1 expression was an independent prognostic factor for both OS (P = 0.035) and DFS (P = 0.013). In contrast to the effect of HABP1 in TNBCs with lymph node metastasis, HABP1 overexpression significantly affects prognosis (OS, P = 0.002; DFS, P = 0.003) in TNBCs without lymph node metastasis. In conclusion, HABP1 protein high expression may contribute to the tumor progression and poor prognosis of TNBC, especially in predicting prognosis in TNBCs without lymph node metastasis.