Expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) as a predictor of recurrence in stage I breast carcinoma patients.
BACKGROUND
Fatty acid synthase (FAS) is a molecule found in tumor cells from breast carcinomas of patients whose prognosis is very poor. Recently, this molecule has been identified as the key enzyme in fatty acid biosynthesis. This study was done to test the strength of FAS as a prognostic indicator for disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).


METHODS
Clinical records, histologic features, immunohistochemical expression of cathepsin D and c-erbB-2, and estrogen and progesterone receptor status of 110 Stage I breast carcinoma patients were all associated with FAS by a chi-square test. The patterns of DFS and OS were estimated over a ten-year follow-up period using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate analysis were evaluated using a log logistic regression model. Multivariate regression analysis was based on the Cox proportional hazard model. To detect FAS, cathepsin D and c-erbB-2 expression as well as estrogen and progesterone receptor status, we used the unlabeled immunoperoxidase technique on formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tissue.


RESULTS
FAS was significantly associated with a higher risk of recurrence because it predicted both DFS (P = 0.0001) and OS (P = 0.003) when evaluated as a continuous variable and DFS (P = 0.0001) when evaluated with other prognostic markers. Peritumoral lymphatic vessel invasion was the other most significant independent predictor for DFS (P = 0.001) and OS (P = 0.003).


CONCLUSIONS
FAS is a reliable prognostic marker to predict DFS and OS in patients with early breast cancer.
Alo'
P L
PL
Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Patologia, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Italy.
Visca
P
P
Marci
A
A
Mangoni
A
A
Botti
C
C
Di Tondo
U
U
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000401:mortality*; D002402:Cathepsin D / Q000032:analysis; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D018734:Genes, erbB-2; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011379:Prognosis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000032:analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis
D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases; D002402:Cathepsin D