title: Aberrant keratin 7 and 20 expression in triple-negative carcinoma of the breast.
abstract: Early studies characterizing the keratin (K) profile of various epithelial tissues indicated that breast carcinoma is K7 positive and K20 negative, but not all breast carcinomas show this profile. Triple-negative carcinoma (TNC) has been characterized by negativity for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), and Her2/neu protein. TNC is more likely to metastasize to the viscera and present as a metastatic poorly different carcinoma. In our study, on the basis of immunohistochemical staining of ER, PgR, and Her2/neu, 75 of the 290 patients with invasive breast carcinoma were judged to have TNC. K20 expression was detected in 6 of 75 patients with TNC, and non-TNC was negative in all 215 cases (P = .0003). K7 expression was also detected in 72 of 75 TNC cases. However, non-TNC was negative in 26 of 215 cases, which was significant (P = .0457). An aberrant profile of K was observed in the TNC group, indicating that caution is needed in determining the site of primary tumors using immunohistochemical algorithms. It should be kept in mind that patients with TNC show highly variable K profiles in practical diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, International University of Health and Welfare Hospital, Tochigi, Japan; Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Dokkyo Medical University, Tochigi, Japan. Electronic address: hajimek@iuhw.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuroda
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Dokkyo Medical University, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Dokkyo Medical University, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidetsugu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamagishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuroso
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, Nissan Tamagawa Hospital, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, International University of Health and Welfare Hospital, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, International University of Health and Welfare Hospital, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Akinori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, International University of Health and Welfare Hospital, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yashiro
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, International University of Health and Welfare Hospital, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Hisaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fukushima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053554:Keratin-20 / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D053552:Keratin-7 / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D064726:Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C507499:KRT20 protein, human; C507497:KRT7 protein, human; D053554:Keratin-20; D053552:Keratin-7
keywords: Keratin 20; Keratin 7; Triple-negative carcinoma, breast carcinoma