AIRE and breast carcinoma: Notably, AIRE plays a vital role in immune tolerance and autoimmune diseases by regulating the expression of tissue-specific antigens in thymic epithelial cells.46 Recent studies also detected aberrant expression of AIRE in solid tumors, especially in breast cancers, and showed a close association between AIRE expression and breast cancer susceptibility and prognosis.47,48 Nevertheless, the underlying molecular mechanisms have not been investigated.