Fig. 1

FOXD1 is clinically involved in CTC formation in BC, particularly in early BC. A Analysis workflow of clinical BC tumor samples. B Volcano plot showing the differential RNA expression genes (by RNA-seq) between clinical BC primary tumors with CTC ≥ 5 and clinical BC primary tumors with CTC = 0. n = 7. C The mRNA levels of FOXD1 in the BC primary tissues with CTC ≥ 5 or CTC<5 were analyzed by qRT-PCR. Error bars, SEM. CTC ≥ 5, n = 40; CTC<5, n = 40. *p<0.05 by Student’s t-test. D Correlation between CTC number in BC patients and FOXD1 expression in primary tumor. n = 80. E FOXD1 mRNA levels in primary tissues of early-stage BC patients were analyzed by qRT-PCR. Error bars, SEM. CTC ≥ 5, n = 27; CTC<5, n = 31. *p<0.05 by Student’s t-test. F Western blotting analyses of FOXD1 expression in primary tumors with CTC ≥ 5 or CTC<5. GAPDH as a control gene. G Immunohistochemistry staining (IHC) of FOXD1 in indicated BC patient primary tumors. Scale bar, 50 μm. Error bars, SD. n = 5. ***p < 0.001 by Student’s t-test. H Disease-free survival analysis of BC patients with high FOXD1 expression by TCGA database