{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,5]],"date-time":"2026-09-05T17:14:37Z","timestamp":1788628477520,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,4]],"date-time":"2021-06-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1622764800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004035","name":"Jordan University of Science and Technology","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["20180266"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20180266"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004035","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\"><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>The neuropeptide substance P is a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in cancer. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the expression level of substance P in different breast cancer molecular subtypes and identify its association with clinicopathological parameters of patients and with Ki-67 index.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec002\"><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A retrospective analysis was performed for a total of 164 paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissue samples [42 Her2\/neu-enriched, 40 luminal A, 42 luminal B (triple-positive) and 40 triple negative subtypes]. The tissue microarray slides containing specimens were used to determine the expression of substance p and Ki-67 by immunohistochemical staining.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec003\"><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The mean age of the cohort was 51.35 years. Twenty two percent of cases had low substance P expression levels (TS \u2264 5), while 78% had high expression levels (TS &gt; 5). A significant association was found between SP expression level and breast cancer molecular subtype (p = 0.002), TNM stage (p = 0.034), pN stage (p = 0.013), axillary lymph node metastasis (p = 0.004), ER and PR statuses (p&lt;0.001) and history of DCIS (p = 0.009). The average percentage of Ki-67 expression was 27.05%. When analyzed as a continuous variable, significant differences were observed between the mean Ki-67 scores and molecular subtype (p = 0.001), grade (p = 0.003), pN stage (p = 0.007), axillary lymph node metastasis (p = 0.001), and ER and PR statuses (p &lt;0.001).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec004\"><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>SP is overexpressed in most of the analyzed tissues and has a negative prognostic value in the breast cancer patients. Besides substance P is a potential therapeutic target in breast cancer.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0252616","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,4]],"date-time":"2021-06-04T17:27:11Z","timestamp":1622827631000},"page":"e0252616","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Immunohistochemical expression of substance P in breast cancer and its association with prognostic parameters and Ki-67 index"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9857-4966","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Maha S.","family":"Al-Keilani","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rana I.","family":"Elstaty","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammad 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