Abstract
To investigate the potential role of small breast epithelial mucin (SBEM) as a marker for detecting hematogenous micrometastasis in breast cancer and explore its clinical significance in neoadjuvant chemotherapy. SBEM protein expression in 82 tissue specimens of primary breast cancer was detected using immunohistochemistry (IHC), and SBEM expression in peripheral blood (PB) samples of 109 primary breast cancer patients (94 cases at stage I–III, 15 cases at stage IV) was detected by flow cytometry (FCM) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Moreover, SBEM mRNA expression was monitored by quantification real-time PCR (QPCR) before and after 3 cycles’ neoadjuvant chemotherapy. SBEM expression correlated with tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging and lymph node metastasis at both mRNA and protein levels. SBEM expression in PB of breast cancer patients was markedly higher than that of healthy donors and other cancer patients. SBEM was found expressed in PB of 50 cases among 94 cases at stage I–III and expressed in PB of 11 cases among 15 cases at stage IV. After 3 cycles’ neoadjuvant chemotherapy, SBEM expression levels were significantly down-regulated in up to 58% breast cancer patients. SBEM has the potential to be a specific marker for predicting hematogenous micrometastasis and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer.
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Abbreviations
- SBEM:
-
Small breast epithelial mucin
- IHC:
-
Immunohistochemistry
- PB:
-
Peripheral blood
- FCM:
-
Flow cytometry
- RT–PCR:
-
Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction
- QPCR:
-
Quantification real-time PCR
- TNM:
-
Tumor node metastasis
- PBS:
-
Phosphate buffered saline
- FITC:
-
Fluorescein isothiocyanate
- GAPDH:
-
Gluceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase
- LNM:
-
Lymph node metastasis
- HE:
-
Hematoxylin eosin
- TMA:
-
Tissue microarray
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Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Yang Ming for expert technical assistance with immunohistochemistry. We thank Dr. Piao Ying, Dr. Ding Zhenyu and Dr. Li Bing for secretarial and organizational support in our experiments. We also thank prof. Liu Yongye for critical revision of the manuscript.
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Liu, ZZ., Xie, XD., Qu, SX. et al. Small breast epithelial mucin (SBEM) has the potential to be a marker for predicting hematogenous micrometastasis and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer. Clin Exp Metastasis 27, 251–259 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10585-010-9323-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10585-010-9323-2