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Expression of Bmi-1 protein in tumor tissues is associated with favorable prognosis in breast cancer patients

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Abstract

Purpose Abnormal expression of the cell cycle regulatory protein Bmi-1 has been studied in breast cancer, but the clinical relevance has not been fully elucidated. We studied the expression of Bmi-1 protein in breast cancer patients to define its clinical significance in breast cancer. Experimental Design Tissue microarrays were performed to evaluate the expression of Bmi-1 by immunohistochemistry in tumor tissues from 960 patients with stage I–III breast cancer. We assessed the relationship between the expression of Bmi-1 and pathologic prognostic indices as well as clinical long-term follow up outcome. Results Bmi-1 was expressed in 53.2% of breast cancer patients by immunohistochemistry, and the expression of Bmi-1 was significantly correlated with favorable prognostic indices at diagnosis. In univariate analysis, patients with Bmi-1 expression showed favorable relapse-free survival (88.6 ± 2.7% vs. 72.3 ± 4.3%, P = 0.041) and favorable overall survival (93.5 ± 2.2% vs. 82.6 ± 3.5%, P < 0.001) than patients without Bmi-1 expression. According to multivariate analyses, Bmi-1 expression was identified as independent prognostic factor for overall survival with a statistical significance (hazard ratio of Bmi-1 (−) patients compared to Bmi-1 (+) patients, 1.744; 95% CI, 1.013–3.003; P = 0.045). This correlation of Bmi-1 expression with favorable overall survival was maintained in patients underwent uniform chemotherapy, regardless of undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy. In a subset analysis according to ER status, Bmi-1 expression associated with favorable overall survival only in ER-positive patients. Conclusions Bmi-1 expression assessed with Immunohistochemistry may be associated with favorable overall survival in breast cancer patients, especially in patients with ER-positive breast cancer.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Sun Woo Kim (Samsung Biomedical Research Institute) for critical reading of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Ilwon-dong 50, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 135-710, Korea

    Young Jin Choi, Jeong Eon Lee, Jee Soo Kim, Jung Han Kim, Jung-Hyun Yang & Seok Jin Nam

  2. Department of Pathology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Yoon La Choi & Eun Yoon Cho

  3. Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, Department of Pharmacy, Seoul National University College of Pharmacy, Seoul, Korea

    Young Kee Shin

  4. Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Ki Woong Sung

  5. Division of Immunotherapy, Mogam Biotechnology Research Institute, Yongin, Korea

    Yu Kyeong Hwang

  6. Genitourinary Cancer Branch, National Cancer Center, Ilsan, Korea

    Sang Jin Lee

  7. Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea

    Gu Kong

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  1. Young Jin Choi
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  2. Yoon La Choi
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  3. Eun Yoon Cho
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  4. Young Kee Shin
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  6. Yu Kyeong Hwang
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  8. Gu Kong
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  9. Jeong Eon Lee
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  10. Jee Soo Kim
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  11. Jung Han Kim
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  12. Jung-Hyun Yang
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  13. Seok Jin Nam
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seok Jin Nam.

Additional information

Young Jin Choi and Yoon La Choi contributed equally to this work as first authors.

Presented in part at the 29th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium December 14–17, 2006.

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Choi, Y.J., Choi, Y.L., Cho, E.Y. et al. Expression of Bmi-1 protein in tumor tissues is associated with favorable prognosis in breast cancer patients. Breast Cancer Res Treat 113, 83–93 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-008-9909-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-008-9909-4

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