Insulin receptor is implicated in triple-negative breast cancer by decreasing cell mobility

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has a poor prognosis and typically earlier onset of metastasis in comparison with other breast cancer subtypes. It has been reported that insulin receptor (INSR) is downregulated in TNBC, however, its clinical significance and functions in TNBC remain to be elucidated. In this study, we found that INSR expression was significantly downregulated in TNBC, and overexpression of INSR suppressed cell migration and invasion in TNBC. In addition, the survival rate of breast cancer patients with low INSR expression was lower than that of patients with high INSR expression. INSR expression was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, clinical tumor stages, ER status, PR status, and the proliferation index Ki-67 expression. In summary, our study suggests that INSR may serve as a biomarker for breast cancer prognosis and it may be a potential target for TNBC treatment.