The effects of E-cadherin and bcl-2 on prognosis in patients with breast cancer

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women. Axillary lymph node involvement and tumor size are the most significant prognostic factors in breast cancer. However, more factors are needed for evaluating the prognosis and individualizing the treatment in these patients. Intracellular adhesion molecule E-cadherin, antiapopitotic protein bcl-2, and p53 might have predictive and prognostic properties in breast cancer. Objective: We have investigated the effects of E-cadherin, bcl-2, and p53 on disease free survival and overall survival in patients with breast cancer. Methods: Positivity of aforementioned genes was detected with immunohistochemistry staining. Seventy-six women patients with invasive ductal and lobular breast cancer who had received adjuvant therapy were included in the study. Results: Bcl-2, E-cadherin, and p53 expression in tumor tissue specimens were found in 26.31 %, 35.52 %, and 9.21 %, respectively. Mean duration of follow-up was 93.58 +/- 3.40 months. In multivariate analyses, axillary lymph node presence and C-erb-B2 overexpression were a strong negative prognostic factor of disease free survival and overall survival. E-cadherin and bcl-2 failed to have an effect on disease free survival and overall survival in our study. In addition, p53 overexpression was determined in a limited number of patients. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that E-cadherin, bcl-2, and p53 did not have any significant prognostic value for our patients. In order to arrive at a decision, we need studies, which include more patients and long follow-up periods (Tab. 2, Fig. 2, Ref. 24). Full Text in free PDF www.bmj.sk.