Truncated O-glycosylation in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer reveals a gene expression signature associated with the extracellular matrix, proteolysis and neutrophil recruitment.

Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of death by cancer in women worldwide. Triple-negative (TN) BC constitutes aggressive and highly metastatic tumors associated with shorter overall survival of patients compared to other BC subtypes. The Tn antigen, a carbohydrate-associated structure resulting from an incomplete O-glycosylation process, is highly expressed in different adenocarcinomas, including BC. It also favors cancer growth, immunoregulation, and metastasis in TNBC.