Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine

Original Articles

Expression of Androgen Receptor, bcl-2 Protein and Rb Protein in Breast Cancers as Related to Prognostic Factors.: Hyun Deuk Cho, Young Sik Kim, Insun Kim; Korean J Pathol. 1998;32(6):443-452.

Abstract: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy of women in industrialized countries and the third in Korean women. There have been a lot of studies on biologic behaviors as well as on the prognostic factors of the breast cancer. In this study, the expression of hormone receptors (estrogen receptor ; ER, progesterone receptor ; PR, and androgen receptor ; AR), bcl-2 and Rb proteins were immunostained on 60 infiltrating ductal carcinomas of the breast. The results were evaluated in relation with the age, histologic grade, tumor size, and status of lymph node metastasis. The expression of ER and PR had a significant inverse correlation with the histologic grade (p<0.001). The expression of AR was significantly correlated with the expression of ER (p=0.039) and PR (p=0.009), but not with other factors such as age, histologic grade, tumor size, and status of lymph node metastasis. There was no relationship between bcl-2 protein expresssion and other prognostic factors, except with the expression of ER. Rb protein expression had a significant positive relationship with PR (p=0.05) and the degree of positivity was correlated with histologic grade (p=0.002). In conclusion, this result suggests that expression of AR is well correlated with ER and PR. bcl-2 has no prognostic value. The significance of Rb protein expression remained to be studied.

S Phase Kinase Associated Protein 2 Expression in Breast Cancer and Its Prognostic Implications.: Eun Deok Chang, Eun Jung Lee, Se Jeong Oh, Chang Suk Kang; Korean J Pathol. 2005;39(2):69-73.

Abstract PDF: BACKGROUND
S Phase Kinase Associated Protein 2 (Skp2), an F-box protein necessary for DNA replication, has recently been demonstrated to be an oncogene. The purpose of this study was to examine the Skp2 expression and to investigate its association with expressions of estrogen receptor (ER), androgen receptor (AR) and HER-2, as well as clinicopathological variables including tumor recurrence.
METHODS
The expressions of Skp2, ER and AR were examined by immunohistochemistry and HER-2 amplification by chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) in 117 cases of breast carcinoma.
RESULTS
Skp2 was expressed in 26 patients (22.2%) and was significantly correlated with tumor type (p=0.031), tumor grade (p=0.017) and ER expression (p=0.038). Twenty four (20.5%) of 117 patients had a tumor recurrence, and 6 patients (5.1%) died of multifocal metastases. Tumor recurrence was significantly correlated with histological grade (p=0.041) and lymph node status (p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
Although Skp2 expression was statistically insignificant in association with tumor recurrence, it might be useful as a biologic predictor in breast cancer. The simple and reliable immunohistochemical assay presented in this study can be a routine part of breast cancer evaluation and may influence patient management.

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