TTK is a favorable prognostic biomarker for triple-negative breast cancer survival
Abstract
Purpose: Although previous research has shown that threonine and tyrosine kinase (TTK) is overexpressed in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), its impact on patient survival remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of TTK expression in primary TNBC.
Methods: TTK expression was assessed in 169 TNBC tissue samples using immunohistochemistry (IHC). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve determined the optimal cutoff for TTK expression. Associations with clinicopathological features and survival outcomes were analyzed using Chi-square tests, log-rank tests, and Cox regression models.
Results: Follow-up data were available for 164 of the 169 cases. TTK staining was detected in the cytoplasm and membrane in 99.4% of cases, with whole-cell staining present in 5.9%. Using a cutoff score of 55, high TTK expression was significantly associated with improved disease-free survival (DFS) (p < 0.001) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.024). Subgroup analysis showed prolonged DFS in both basal-like (p = 0.001) and non-basal-like (p = 0.001) TNBC subtypes. Cox regression confirmed that elevated TTK expression was an independent prognostic factor for DFS (p < 0.001). Conclusions: High TTK expression is a favorable prognostic marker in CFI-402257 TNBC and may help identify patients with better survival outcomes.