title: C-erbB-2 and PCNA as prognostic indicators of long-term survival in breast cancer.
abstract: This study was designed to evaluate the prognostic importance of c-erbB-2 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) with long-term follow-up in Japanese patients with breast cancer. Four hundred and eight patients with breast cancer were studied. We investigated 6 factors, including c-erbB-2, PCNA, lymph-node status (n), clinical tumor size (T), histological grade (HG) and lymphatic vessel invasion, followed for a median of 10 years. c-erbB-2 overexpression was found in 35.0% and PCNA in 43.1% of the carcinomas. c-erbB-2 positivity was correlated with PCNA (p < 0.0001), n (p<0.0001), T (p = 0.0016), and HG (p = 0.0110). Univariate analysis showed that c-erbB-2 was significantly predictive of 20-year overall survival (OS) (p = 0.0247), but not of 20-year relapse-free survival (RFS). PCNA was significantly associated with 20-year RFS and OS (p <0.0001, p < 0.0001, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that PCNA was an independent prognostic factor in node-negative patients, but c-erbB-2 and PCNA were not independent prognostic indicators in all patients. Although c-erbB-2 expression and PCNA were obviously important from a biological standpoint, they were not recognized as independent molecular markers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery II, School of Medicine, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Japan. t-kato@bd5.so-net.ne.jp
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kameoka
authors.forename: Tsunehito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.forename: Makio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases