Breast cancer affects women at relatively high frequency (1). We mined published microarray datasets (2, 3) to determine in an unbiased fashion and at the systems level genes most differentially expressed in the primary tumors of patients with breast cancer. We report here significant differential expression of the gene encoding adiponectin, C1Q and collagen domain containing, ADIPOQ, when comparing primary tumors of the breast to the tissue of origin, the normal breast. ADIPOQ mRNA was present

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... at significantly lower quantities in tumors of the breast as compared to normal breast tissue. Analysis of human survival data revealed that expression of ADIPOQ in primary tumors of the breast was correlated with overall survival in patients with basal and luminal A subtype cancers in a contrary manner, demonstrating a complex relationship between primary tumor expression of a differentially expressed gene and patient survival outcomes influenced by molecular subtype. ADIPOQ may be of relevance to initiation, maintenance or progression of cancers of the female breast.