Middle East Journal of Cancer

Fatty Acid Synthetase and its Role in the Pathological Response after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article(s)

Authors

Yaser Arafat 1
Amrallah Mohammed 1
Israi Mahgoub 1
Mohamed Biomy 2
Doa Mandour 3
Waley Ahmad 1
Adel Bakrey 1

1 Medical Oncology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

2 General Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt

3 Department of Clinical Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

10.30476/mejc.2026.111880.2437
Abstract
Background: Triple-negative breast cancer  (TNBC) has few targeted treatment choices, reflecting the need for biomarkers that  may help in  predicting the response to neoadjuvant therapy (NAT).The present study aimed to evaluate fatty acid synthetase (FAS) expression in TNBC and to assess its association with pathological response to NAC.
Method: A retrospective study included 145 patients with TNBC who received NAC followed by surgery from 2019 to 2023. FAS expression was determined using immunohistochemistry and scores from 0 to 3+ indicating low (scores 0–1+) or high (scores 2–3+). Associations between FAS expression, clinical features, and pathological response were analyzed using the chi-square test. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 22.0 and MedCalc, with P<0.05 considered statistically significant.
Results: A total of 124 patients were eligible and included in the study. High FAS expression was detected in 29.8% of the cases, while 70.2% had low expression. Among the 53 patients who achieved a pathological complete response (pCR), 79.2% had low FAS expression compared with 20.8% with high expression. Low FAS expression was not significantly correlated with the clinical parameters studied. In contrast, high FAS expression was significantly correlated with tumor size, grade, lymph node involvement, menopausal status, Ki-67 levels, and pCR (P< 0.05).
Conclusion: High FAS expression is notably associated with higher histological grade, larger tumor size, lymph node positivity, higher Ki-67 expression, and a lower rate of pCR after NAC.

Keywords

Triple negative breast neoplasms
Neoadjuvant therapy
Treatment outcome
Biomarkers
Subjects

Please cite this article as: Arafat Y, Mohammed A, Mahgoub I, Biomy M, Mandour D, Waley A, et al. Fatty acid synthetase and its role in the pathological response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer. Middle East J Cancer. 2026: in press. doi: 10.30476/mejc.2026.111880.2437.

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Middle East Journal of Cancer

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 01 April 2027

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