Forkhead box P3 and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase co-expression in Pakistani triple negative breast cancer patients

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of breast cancer patients

Variables	Levels	Total, n %
Age	mean ± SD	48.28 ± 11.83
Region	Punjab	88 (88.0%)
	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	7.0 (7.0%)
	Kashmir	3.0 (3.0%)
	Sindh	2.0 (2.0%)
Histology	Ductal	91 (91.0%)
	Others	9.0 (9.0%)
Grade	II	35 (35.0%)
	III	56 (56.0%)
	UNK	09 (9.0%)
Tumor size	T1	7.0 (7.0%)
	T2/T3	57 (57.0%)
	UNK	36 (36.0%)
Nodes	Negative	37 (37.0%)
	Positive	50 (50.0%)
	UNK	13 (13.0%)
Metastasis	Negative	38 (38.0%)
	Positive	49 (49.0%)
	UNK	13 (13.0%)
Estrogen receptor	Negative	69 (69.0%)
	Positive	31 (31.0%)
Progesterone receptor	Negative	74 (74.0%)
	Positive	26 (26.0%)
HER2 status	Negative	74 (74.0%)
	Positive	26 (26.0%)
TNBC	No	51 (51.0%)
	Yes	49 (49.0%)
Status	Alive	50 (50.0%)
	Death	35 (35.0%)
	Lost to follow-up	15 (15.0%)
FOXP3	Negative	75 (75.0%)
	Positive	25 (25.0%)
IDO score	Low	24 (24.0%)
	Medium	27 (27.0%)
	High	49 (49.0%)

UNK: Indicates missing data. FOXP3: Forkhead box P3; HER2: Human epidermal growth factor receptor; IDO: Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase; TNBC: Triple negative breast cancer; SD: Standard deviation.

Table 2 Comparative characteristics of triple negative breast cancer and hormone positive breast cancer patients

Variables	Levels	Triple negative breast cancer, n (%)	Hormone positive breast cancer, n (%)
Age	mean ± SD	47.24 ± 11.5	49.27 ± 12.0
Histology	Ductal	46 (50.5)	45 (49.5)
	Others	3 (33.3)	6 (66.7)
	Total	49 (49.0)	51 (51.0)
Grade	II	9 (25.7)	26 (74.3)
	III	37 (66.1)	19 (33.9)
	UNK	3 (33.3)	6 (66.7)
	Total	49 (49.0)	51 (51.0)
Tumor size	T1	4 (57.1)	3 (42.9)
	T2/T3	26 (45.6)	31 (54.4)
	UNK	19 (52.8)	17 (47.2)
	Total	49 (49.0)	51 (51.0)
Nodes	Negative	23 (62.1)	14 (37.8)
	Positive	21 (42.0)	29 (58.0)
	UNK	5 (38.4)	8 (61.6)
	Total	49 (49.0)	51 (51.0)
Metastasis	Negative	23 (60.5)	15 (39.5)
	Positive	21 (42.8)	28 (57.2)
	UNK	5 (38.4)	8 (61.6)
	Total	49 (49.0)	51 (51.0)

UNK: Indicates missing data. SD: Standard deviation.

Table 3 Clinicopathological characteristics of breast cancer patients with nuclear forkhead box P3 expression

Case	Histology	Age in yr	Grade	Nodes	Metastasis	ER	PR	HER2	TNBC
1	Ductal	28	3	0	-	-	-	-	+
2	Ductal	54	3	14	+	-	-	-	+
3	Ductal	67	3	1	+	-	-	-	+
4	Ductal	65	2	UNK	UNK	-	-	-	+
5	Ductal	45	3	13	+	-	-	-	+
6	Ductal	45	3	0	-	-	-	-	+
7	Ductal	55	3	0	-	-	-	-	+
8	Ductal	23	3	0	-	-	-	-	+
9	Ductal	47	2	0	-	-	-	-	+
10	Ductal	73	3	2	+	-	-	-	+
11	Ductal	35	3	0	-	-	-	-	+
12	Ductal	35	3	0	-	-	-	-	+
13	Ductal	52	3	UNK	UNK	-	-	-	+
14	Ductal	39	3	0	-	-	-	-	+
15	Ductal	48	3	0	-	-	-	-	+
16	Ductal	70	3	2	+	-	-	-	+
17	Ductal	40	3	13	+	-	-	-	+
18	Ductal	35	3	13	+	-	-	-	+
19	Ductal	43	3	0	UNK	-	-	+	-
20	Ductal	36	2	1	+	-	-	+	-
21	Ductal	45	3	UNK	UNK	+	+	-	-
22	Ductal	71	2	6	+	+	-	-	-
23	Ductal	30	2	17	+	+	+	-	-
24	Ductal	40	2	UNK	UNK	-	-	+	-
25	Ductal	62	2	0	-	+	+	+	-

UNK: Indicates missing data; Grade: Nottingham Histologic Score; Nodes: No. of nodes involved. ER: Estrogen receptor; HER2: Human epidermal growth factor receptor; PR: Progesterone receptor; TNBC (+): Triple negative breast cancer; TNBC (-): Hormone-positive breast cancer.

Table 4 Patients and tumor characteristics of forkhead box P3 negative vs positive

Variables	Characteristics	FOXP3 negative 75 (75.0%)	FOXP3 positive 25 (25.0%)	P value
Age (yr)	mean ± SD	48.60 ± 11.02	47.32 ± 14.20	0.64
IDO score	Low	22 (91.7%)	2 (8.3%)	0.01a
	Medium	23 (85.2%)	4 (14.8%)
	High	30 (61.2%)	19 (38.8%)
Grade	II	28 (80.0%)	7 (20.0%)	0.21
	III	38 (67.9%)	18 (32.1%)
Metastasis	Negative	27 (71.1%)	11 (28.9%)	0.45
	Positive	39 (79.6%)	10 (20.4%)
Tumor size	T1	4 (57.1%)	3 (42.9%)	0.15
	T2/T3	46 (80.7%)	11 (19.3%)
Lymph nodes involvement	Negative	26 (70.3%)	11 (29.7%)	0.29
	Positive	40 (80.0%)	10 (20.0%)
Estrogen receptor	Negative	48 (69.6%)	21 (30.4%)	0.06
	Positive	27 (87.1%)	4 (12.9%)
Progesterone receptor	Negative	52 (70.3%)	22 (29.7%)	0.06
	Positive	23 (88.5%)	3 (11.5%)
HER2–neu receptor	Negative	53 (71.6%)	21 (28.4%)	0.19
	Positive	22 (84.6%)	4 (15.4%)
Triple negative breast cancer	No	44 (86.3%)	7 (13.7%)	0.01a
	Yes	31 (63.3%)	18 (36.7%)

^aP < 0.05. IDO: Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase; HER2: Human epidermal growth factor receptor; FOXP3: Forkhead box P3; SD: Standard deviation.

Table 5 Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis for forkhead box P3-negative (reference) vs forkhead box P3-positive

Variables	Characteristics	Univariable analysis odds ratio (95%CI), P value	Multivariable analysis odds ratio (95%CI), P value
IDO score	Low	Ref.	Ref.
	Medium	1.91 (0.32-11.52), 0.50	2.32 (0.37-14.50), 0.37
	High	6.97 (1.50-33.10), 0.01a	5.90 (1.22-28.64), 0.03a
Triple negative breast cancer	No	Ref.	Ref.
	Yes	3.65 (1.36-9.80), 0.01a	2.80 (0.96-7.95), 0.05a

^aP < 0.05. IDO: Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase.