In the present study, we also found that high Cx43 expression was correlated with low TNM stage, low lymph node metastasis and high 10-year overall survival and relapse-frees survival in the entire patient cohort and the subtypes of ER+, basal and luminal A (Fig. 1B-K), indicating that Cx43 serves as an independent prognostic marker for breast cancer patients. This evidence concerns the gene ESR1 and breast cancer.