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P-cadherin expression and basal-like subtype in breast cancers

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Abstract

Breast cancer is considered as one of the multifactorial diseases. The aim of the current study is to investigate the association between P-cadherin and molecular subtypes of breast cancer, especially the basal-like subtype. Two hundred and thirteen breast–invasive ductal carcinomas were involved in this study. The expressions of P-cadherin were detected via immunohistochemistry. The 213 cases were divided into luminal A, luminal B, HER2 overexpression subtype, and normal breast-like and basal-like subtypes according to the standard of molecular breast cancer subtypes. In addition, the expressions of CK5/6 and CK14 were detected to distinguish between the normal breast-like and the basal-like subtypes. P-cadherin expression was found in 91 cases of 213 breast–invasive ductal carcinomas, with a positive rate of 42.7 %. P-cadherin correlated negatively with estrogen receptor (ER) (p = 0.001) and progesterone receptor (p = 0.001), whereas it positively correlated with histologic grade (p = 0.003), NPI (p = 0.005), p53 (p = 0.038), and Ki67 (p = 0.022). P-cadherin expression showed a strong correlation with recurrence and distant metastasis (p = 0.009), and invasion of the vascular and soft tissues (p = 0.004). Moreover, P-cadherin expression existed in the basal-like and non-basal-like subtypes. During prognosis, P-cadherin expression was associated with decreased disease-free survival in patients (p = 0.009) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.005). In addition, multivariate analysis showed that tumor grade (p = 0.021), ER (p = 0.015), clinical stage (p = 0.001), and P-cadherin (p = 0.033) were significant predictors of OS. The current data suggest that P-cadherin may be used to distinguish the basal-like subtype and to predict the outcome in view of the relationship with DFS and OS. Furthermore, P-cadherin expression may be useful in making treatment decisions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Breast Cancer Research Key Laboratory of National Education Ministry, Ministry of Education and Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Huan Hu Xi Road, Ti Yuan Bei, He Xi District, Tianjin, 300060, China

    N. Liu, Q. Yu, Estifanos P. Gebreamlak, S. L. Wang, R. J. Zhang, J. Zhang & Y. Niu

  2. Baodi Clinical College of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China

    N. Liu

  3. Department of Oncology, Jinghai Hospital, Tianjin, China

    Q. Yu

  4. Department of Pathology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China

    T. J. Liu

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  1. N. Liu
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  2. Q. Yu
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Correspondence to Y. Niu.

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Liu, N., Yu, Q., Liu, T.J. et al. P-cadherin expression and basal-like subtype in breast cancers. Med Oncol 29, 2606–2612 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-012-0218-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-012-0218-8

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