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Bcl-2 antigen expression in luminal A and triple-negative breast cancer

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Abstract

Biomarkers for the prognosis of breast cancer have been routinely used in clinical practice, including the expression of hormone receptors, Ki-67 and HER-2. More recently, Bcl-2 has been recognized as an important prognostic factor in breast cancer, although controversies persist with respect to the significance of its expression. The aim of the present study was to evaluate Bcl-2 antigen expression in luminal A and triple-negative breast cancer. Sixty women with invasive ductal carcinoma were included in the study and divided into two groups: Group A (luminal A) and Group B (triple-negative), with 30 cases in each group. Immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue sections to evaluate Bcl-2 antigen expression. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare the proportions of cases with cells expressing Bcl-2 between the two subtype cancer groups, with statistical significance being established at p < 0.05. The number of cases with cells expressing Bcl-2 in Groups A and B was 26 (86.7%) and 12 (40.0%), respectively (p < 0.0003). In the present study, the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was greater in luminal A breast cancer tissue samples compared to triple-negative breast cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Postgraduate Program, Northeast Biotechnology Network (Rede Nordeste de Biotecnologia - RENORBIO), Federal University of Piaui, Teresina, Piauí, 64049-550, Brazil

    Carla Solange Escórcio-Dourado, Luana Mota Martins, Camila Maria Simplício-Revoredo, Fabiane Araújo Sampaio, Cléciton Braga Tavares, Francisco Adelton Alves-Ribeiro, José Charles Lima-Dourado & Benedito Borges da Silva

  2. Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences, Federal University of Piaui, Teresina, 64049-550, Brazil

    João Paulo da Silva-Sampaio, Umbelina Soares Borges, Pedro Vitor Lopes-Costa & Benedito Borges da Silva

  3. Department of Mastology, Getúlio Vargas Hospital, Teresina, 64001-020, Brazil

    Pedro Vitor Lopes-Costa & Benedito Borges da Silva

  4. Avenida Elias João Tajra 1260, Jockey, Teresina, Piauí, 64049-300, Brazil

    Benedito Borges da Silva

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  1. Carla Solange Escórcio-Dourado
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  2. Luana Mota Martins
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Correspondence to Benedito Borges da Silva.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Piauí (Teresina, Brazil, Approval No. 43447015.8.0000.5214). All research is in compliance with the terms of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Escórcio-Dourado, C.S., Martins, L.M., Simplício-Revoredo, C.M. et al. Bcl-2 antigen expression in luminal A and triple-negative breast cancer. Med Oncol 34, 161 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-017-1022-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-017-1022-2

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