Core Needle Biopsy Specimens Are More Appropriate than Surgical Specimens for Evaluating the Expression of Phosphoproteins as Biological Markers in Invasive Breast Cancer.
To evaluate whether core needle biopsy specimens (CNBS) would be better than surgical specimens (SS) for evaluating phosphoproteins as biological markers in breast cancer.



This retrospective analysis included a total of 99 patients who had invasive breast cancer and were treated surgically between January 2012 and July 2013. The expression of phosphorylated ribosomal protein S6-kinase-1 (p-S6K1), phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-AKT), and estrogen receptor (ER) were assessed immunohistochemically on both CNBS and SS for each patient.



The expression rate of phosphoprotein at any intensity was higher on CNBS than on SS (p-S6K1, 99.0% versus 59.6%; p-AKT, 94.9% versus 56.6%). p-S6K1and p-AKT expression was classified as negativity (absence to weak staining) or positivity (moderate to strong staining) for further analysis. For p-S6K1, 24.2% of patients showed positivity on CNBS and negativity on SS, while 7% of the patients showed negativity on CNBS and positivity on SS. For p-AKT, 70.7% of the patients showed positivity on CNBS and negativity on SS, while only 1.0% of patients showed negativity on CNBS and positivity on SS.



CNBS may be the more appropriate specimen type for immunohistochemical examination of phosphoprotein expression in invasive breast cancer.
Department of Surgery, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Hyun-Ah
HA
Kim
Department of Surgery, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Ji Hyun
JH
Kim
Department of Surgery, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Hyang Suk
HS
Choi
Department of Surgery, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Yun Gyoung
YG
Kim
Department of Surgery, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Seok Joon
SJ
Lee
Department of Pathology, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Kang Hee
KH
Han
Department of Surgery, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Min Ki
MK
Seong
Department of Pathology, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Hye Sil
HS
Seol
Department of Surgery, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea nohwoo@kcch.re.kr.
Woo Chul
WC
Noh
D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D001706:Biopsy; D062005:Biopsy, Large-Core Needle; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D038762:Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 70-kDa / Q000378:metabolism
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C506487:ESR1 protein, human; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; D010750:Phosphoproteins; C494918:AKT1 protein, human; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D038762:Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 70-kDa; C448901:ribosomal protein S6 kinase, 70kD, polypeptide 1
Phosphoprotein expression; core needle biopsy specimens; invasive breast cancer