Co‑expression Network Analysis by WGCNA and Identify Potential Prognostic Markers Associated with Lung Metastasis in Breast Cancer

Backgroud: Breast cancer (BC) is an aggressive cancer with a high percentage recurrence and metastasis. As one of the most common distant metastasis organ in breast cancer, lung metastasis has a worse prognosis than that of liver and bone. Therefore, it’s important to explore some potential prognostic markers associated with the lung metastasis in breast cancer for preventive treatment. Methods: : In our study, transcriptomic data and clinical information of breast cancer patients were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Co-expression modules was built by Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to find out the royalbule modules which is significantly associated with lung metastasis in breast cancer. Then, co-expression genes were analyzed for functional enrichment. Furthermore, the prognostic value of these genes was assessed by GEPIA Database and Kaplan-Meier Plotter. Results: : Results showed that the hub genes, LMNB and CDC20, were up-regulated in breast cancer and indicated worse survival. Therefore, we speculate that these two genes play crucial roles in the process of lung metastasis in breast cancer, and can be used as potential prognostic markers in lung metastasis of breast cancer. Conclusion: Collectively, our study identified two potential key genes in the lung metastasis of breast cancer, which might be applied as the prognostic markers of the precise treatment in breast cancer with lung metastasis.