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Clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis for molecular subtypes in low-grade breast carcinoma: comparison with grade one invasive ductal carcinoma-not otherwise specified

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis value for molecular subtypes of low-grade breast carcinoma (LGBC) compared with grade one invasive ductal carcinoma-not otherwise specified (G1-IDC-NOS). A retrospective review of 688 LGBC and 1 037 G1-IDC-NOS patients was classified into four different molecular subtypes based on the IHC-based definitions for ER, PR, and c-erbB-2. In LGBC, lymph node metastasis, the percentage of III/IV TNM stages, the expression of Ki-67 and p53 in luminal A subtype were lower than in other subtypes (P < 0.01). In addition, the variations of Ki-67 and p53 expression were observed in different subtypes of G1-IDC-NOS (P < 0.01). Compared with G1-IDC-NOS, LGBC has higher proportion in the ER positive, PR positive, HER-2 negative, luminal A subtype, Ki-67 negative, and lymph nodes negative group (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the overall survival of luminal A and luminal B is higher than triple-negative and HER-2/neu subtype both in LGBC and G1-IDC-NOS in 262 LGBC and 330 G1-IDC-NOS patients with proper follow-up. The classification of molecular subtype together with clinicopathologic factors can significantly improve the traditional prognosticators in predicting outcome for LGBC and G1-IDC-NOS. And it may contribute to guide the treatment for LGBC and G1-IDC-NOS in the future.

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Abbreviations

LGBC:

Low-grade breast carcinoma

G1-IDC-NOS:

Grade one invasive ductal carcinoma-not otherwise specified

BC:

Breast cancer

MC:

Mucinous carcinoma

TC:

Tubular carcinoma

ICC:

Invasive cribriform carcinoma

ET:

Endocrine tumors

ACC:

Adenoid cystic carcinoma

TLC:

Tubulolobular carcinoma

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Acknowledgments

We thank for the Division of the medical record, Cancer Institute & Hospital, Tianjin Medical University for all technical supports of the project. The authors gratefully acknowledge Xiumin Ding and Ying Wang for technology assistance. Funding: This work was supported by Innovation Funding for graduate of Tianjin Medical University,third phase of the 211 Project for Higher Education (No.2010GSI11), National Natural Science Foundation of China (30872519), Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT 0743).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Breast Cancer Pathology and Research Laboratory, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Huan hu xi Road, Tiyuan Bei, Hexi District, Tianjin, 300060, China

    Shuling Wang, Weidong Li, Tongxian Zhang, Han Liu, Junjun Liu, Fen Liu, Wei Zhang, Estifanos P. Gebreamlak & Yun Niu

  2. Key Laboratory of Breast Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China

    Shuling Wang, Weidong Li, Tongxian Zhang, Han Liu, Junjun Liu, Fen Liu, Wei Zhang, Estifanos P. Gebreamlak & Yun Niu

  3. Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China

    Shuling Wang, Weidong Li, Tongxian Zhang, Han Liu, Junjun Liu, Fen Liu, Wei Zhang, Estifanos P. Gebreamlak & Yun Niu

  4. Department of Pathology, Baodi Hospital, Tianjin, China

    Ning Liu

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  1. Shuling Wang
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  2. Weidong Li
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Correspondence to Yun Niu.

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Wang, S., Li, W., Liu, N. et al. Clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis for molecular subtypes in low-grade breast carcinoma: comparison with grade one invasive ductal carcinoma-not otherwise specified. Med Oncol 29, 2556–2564 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-012-0174-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-012-0174-3

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