STn and prognosis in breast cancer.
Sialyl-Tn (STn) is a carbohydrate antigen formed by the premature 2-6 sialylation of N-acetylgalactosamine. It belongs to a family of antigens widely expressed in carcinomas but only to a limited degree in normal tissue. The expression of STn has been associated with prognosis in different tumors. In this immunohistochemical study of 218 patients with invasive stage I-III breast cancer, STn was expressed in 39% of the tumors. High expression of STn correlated with estrogen and progesterone hormone receptor negativity (p = 0.0002 and p = 0.0003, respectively), and marginally with large tumor size (p = 0.04), high S-phase fraction (p = 0.04) and aneuploidy (p = 0.04), but not significantly with node status, grade or age. The patients had a median follow-up of 17 years. The breast-cancer-specific survival rate of patients with STn-negative cancers was higher than that of patients with cancers that expressed STn during the first 5 years of the follow-up (p = 0.013), but the difference between the groups decreased during the long-term follow-up. STn expression seems to be a marker for short-term, but not for long-term breast cancer outcome prediction.
Leivonen
M
M
Department of Surgery, Peijas Hospital, Vantaa, Finland. marja.leivonen@hus.fi
Nordling
S
S
Lundin
J
J
von Boguslawski
K
K
Haglund
C
C
D000782:Aneuploidy; D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate / Q000032:analysis*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011003:Ploidies; D011379:Prognosis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000032:analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016196:S Phase; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors
D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; C055491:sialosyl-Tn antigen