Fig. 1

Clinical correlates of a MEK activation gene signature and 4-1BB and OX-40 gene expression in human TNBC. a Higher levels of the MEK gene signature in TNBC (n = 329, Kruskal–Wallis; P = 2.2e-16) compared with other breast cancer subtypes from the METABRIC data set. Box plot represents the lower, median and upper quartile, while whiskers represent the highest and lowest range for the upper and lower quartiles. P-value represents Kruskal–Wallis test b–d Kaplan–Meier survival curves of TNBC patients according to tertiles of the b MEK signature (HR: 1.037, 95% CI: 1.01–1.065; P = 0.007), c 4-1BB gene (HR: 1.541 95% CI: 1.009–2.354; P = 0.04), and d OX-40 gene (HR: 1.453 95% CI: 0.9631–2.191; P = 0.07), stratified by low, intermediate, and high gene expression tertiles. P-values represent Cox regression analysis. e Gene correlations between the TILs signature, OX-40, 4-1BB, and key breast cancer-related immune prognostic genes from the TCGA database. Yellow high correlation, blue low correlation. P-values represent Pearson’s correlation coefficient