Immunohistochemical analysis of prostate apoptosis response-4 (Par-4) in Mexican women with breast cancer: a preliminary study.

摘要

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: We undertook this study to compare the expression level of prostate apoptosis response-4 (Par-4) among patient outcome in two groups of women with breast cancer (short and long survival) and two groups without breast cancer (benign lesion and control). METHODS: We included breast specimens with nonhistological abnormalities (eight samples) as a control group. Semiquantitative and quantitative analysis of immunohistochemical staining by image analysis software were used to study the intensity of Par-4 expression. Both methods produced similar results (p>0.05). RESULTS: No significant expression of Par-4 was observed in normal breast tissue. Benign lesions and breast cancer tissue showed strong nuclear expression of Par-4, predominantly on epithelial cells and specifically in ductal cells. Par-4 expression was lower in myoepithelial cells and there was no appreciable stromal staining. Significantly less Par-4 reactivity was detected in tissue from patients with a short survival compared with patients with benign lesions and those with a long survival. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that a lower expression level of Par-4 is related to an unfavorable prognosis. A larger prospective study of samples of all patient groups with a longer follow-up is needed to validate this finding.