title: C-erbB-2 expression is a better predictor for survival than galectin-3 or p53 in early-stage breast cancer.
abstract: The definition of high risk patients with early stage breast cancer is still controversial. We evaluated the ability of galectin-3, c-erbB-2 and p53 immunohistochemical expression to predict recurrence and survival in a homogeneous set of 92 patients with T1N0M0 ductal carcinoma with a long-term follow-up. In normal breast tissue, the epithelial and fibroblast components were positive for galectin-3 mostly showing nuclear and cytoplasmic reactivity. At the tumor epithelial component, galectin-3 expression was found in 46.7% of the samples with a predominant cytoplasmic staining. Similar results were presented by concurrent in situ lesions. Tumor stromal fibroblasts maintained positivity in 70 out of 92 cases (76%). We found expression of p53 in only 16 cases (17.4%), and c-erbB-2 in 17 (18.48%). A marginal association was found between co-expression of p53 and galectin-3 (p=0.055) and a significant correlation between p53 accumulation and c-erbB-2 expression (p=0.009). There was no significant association between galectin-3 protein expression with disease-free survival or overall survival. C-erbB2 and p53 expression correlated with recurrence (p=0.002, p=0.02; respectively). Diminished overall survival at 10 years was associated with c-erbB-2 (p=0.010), but marginally with p53 expression (p=0.076). Epithelial galectin-3 expression cannot be considered a prognostic factor for patients with T1N0M0 breast cancer, p53 seems to be of minor relevance and c-erbB-2 expression was the best discriminator and may be a marker for aggressive clinical behavior in patients with early stage breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Patologia da Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Angela F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Logullo
authors.forename: Andreia B G
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Suely
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nonogaki
authors.forename: Fernando A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Mário Mourão
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Netto
authors.forename: Inês N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Nishimoto
authors.forename: M Mitzi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Brentani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D037502:Galectin 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D037502:Galectin 3; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53