Development of prognostic index based on autophagy-related genes analysis in breast cancer.

Background: Autophagy is a self-digesting process that can satisfy the metabolic needs of cells, and is closely related to development of cancer. However, the effect of autophagy-related genes (ARGs) on the prognosis of breast cancer remains unclear.

Results: We first found that 27 ARGs were significantly associated with overall survival in breast cancer.

Young age at diagnosis is associated with better prognosis in stage IV breast cancer.

Numerous studies have shown that young age is a risk factor in early breast cancer. But for stage IV breast cancer, it is unclear whether age has a similar effect on patient survival. We collected and analyzed data from patients with stage IV breast cancer between January 2010 and December 2015 in SEER database.