title: ErbB-2 protein levels in nipple discharge: role in diagnosis of early breast cancer.
abstract: The levels of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein (ErbB-2 protein) in nipple discharge were evaluated together with those of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in 9 patients with breast cancer, 2 patients with borderline lesions, 8 patients with intraductal papilloma, and 19 patients with fibrocystic change. When the tentative cutoff value was set at 40 ng/ml in the nipple discharge, elevated ErbB-2 protein levels were found in all 3 patients with palpable breast cancer and 3 of the 6 patients with nonpalpable cancer. Two of the 8 patients with intraductal papilloma had high ErbB-2 protein levels. A combination test with CEA resulted in positive detection in all cancer patients. Two patients with borderline lesions, 2 with intraductal papilloma and 2 with fibrocystic change were positive in a combination test. In addition, elevated ErbB-2 protein levels in nipple discharge correlated well with the overexpression of ErbB-2 protein in the tumor. All the patients with ErbB-2 protein levels over 100 ng/ml in their nipple discharge had comedo or solid intraductal carcinomas. Thus, measurement of ErbB-2 protein levels in nipple discharge can assist in the diagnosis of intraductal carcinoma and also in detecting tumors with a high proliferation rate and an overexpression of ErbB-2 protein: usually comedo or solid carcinomas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Center for Adult Diseases, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inaji
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Motomura
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugano
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohkura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D001940:Breast / Q000378:metabolism*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000378:metabolism; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000378:metabolism; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005348:Fibrocystic Breast Disease / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008875:Middle Aged; D018300:Papilloma, Intraductal / Q000378:metabolism; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases