Forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) expression predicts disease free survival and may mediate resistance to chemotherapy and hormonotherapy in male breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare and neglected disease. Prognostic and predictive factors in MBC are extrapoled from trials conducted on its female counterpart.

OBJECTIVE: Since the relationship between the transcription factor Forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) expression and the clinical response to chemotherapy and hormonotherapy in MBC remains unknown, we sought to investigate the predictive value of FOXM1 in MBC.

METHODS: FOXM1 expression was assessed in 130 MBC cases. Clinical significance was analyzed by Kaplan Meier curves, log-rank test and multivariate Cox regression analyses.

RESULTS: Patients with high FOXM1 expression had a significantly lower response rate to chemotherapy (P = 0.045) and hormonotherapy (P = 0.029) than those with low FOXM1 expression. Multivariate analyses indicated that FOXM1 was an independent prognostic factor for disease free survival in MBC patients (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: FOXM1 may have a reliable predictive significance in male breast cancer and thus may become an important target for male breast cancer therapy in the near future.