The polycomb group protein, enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), is a transcriptional repressor involved in cell cycle regulation and has been linked to aggressive breast cancer. We examined the clinical and biological significance of EZH2 expression in triple-negative breast cancers. Tissue microarrays were constructed with invasive breast cancer cases and stained with EZH2, cytokeratin 5/6, epidermal growth factor receptor 1(EGFR) and p53. The expression of these markers was correlated with clinicopathologic variables and patients’ outcome. Furthermore, in vivo EZH2 gene silencing was achieved using siRNA incorporated into chitosan nanoparticles. Out of 261 cases of invasive breast cancer, high expression of EZH2 was detected in 87 (33%) cases, and it was strongly associated with a triple-negative breast cancer phenotype (P<.001) compared to all other non-triple negative breast cancers. Furthermore, high EZH2 was significantly associated with high histologic grade (P=.01), estrogen receptor negativity (P<.001), progesterone receptor negativity (P<.001), EGFR positivity (P=.04), and high p53 expression (P<.001). Survival analysis demonstrated that patients with high EZH2 had a poorer overall survival, compared to those with low EZH2 (P=.03), and it retained its significance as an independent prognostic factor (P=.02). In addition, EZH2 gene silencing resulted in significant reduction in tumor growth (P<.01) in the orthotopic MB-231 mouse model of breast carcinoma. Our results show that high EZH2 expression is significantly associated with triple-negative breast cancer and decreased survival. EZH2 may represent a potential therapeutic target for this aggressive disease, which warrants further investigation.
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