Metallothionein as a prognostic biomarker in breast cancer.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, with a general upward trend in incidence. Basic and clinical breast cancer research has continued at a rapid pace, in the endeavor to understand the biology of the disease so as to improve management of patients. Besides traditional pathological indicators, expression of molecular markers in breast cancer has also been comprehensively investigated. This paper will focus on the prognostic utility of metallothioneins (MTs), a family of low molecular weight metal binding proteins encoded by at least 10 functional MT genes that are associated with cell proliferation in breast cancer. Evidence that MT is a potential prognostic biomarker for breast cancer is supported by many reports in the literature. Expression of the MT protein has been detected by immunohistochemistry in a significant portion of invasive ductal breast cancers. MT expression has also been well studied in association with traditional clinico-pathological parameters of breast cancers. Generally, higher MT expression in breast cancers is predictive of worse patient outcomes. The relationship of MT isoforms to histological grade, estrogen receptor (ER) status, and prognosis will also be discussed.
Bay
Boon-Huat
BH
Department of Anatomy, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 4 Medical Drive, Blk MD 10, Singapore 117 597. antbaybh@nus.edu.sg
Jin
Rongxian
R
Huang
Jingxiang
J
Tan
Puay-Hoon
PH
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008668:Metallothionein / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D008668:Metallothionein