<b>Principal conclusions:</b> Tumor-associated MUC1 is a very important biomarker for breast cancer next to the traditional markers estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and HER/2-neu.
<i>PIK3CA</i> mutations were associated with the estrogen receptor-positive/progesterone receptor-positive (ER<sup>+</sup>/PR<sup>+</sup>) group of tumors in contrast to the ER<sup>-</sup>/PR<sup>-</sup> group (P=0.021).
25 patients out of 129 with a complete receptor information from both primary tumor and BM (ER, PR, HER2) available, had a change in receptor status: 7 of 26 (27%) ER/PR-positive/HER2-negative primaries (3 gained HER2; 4 lost expression of ER/PR); 10 of 31 (32%) ER/PR-positive/HER2-positive primaries (4 lost ER/PR only; 3 lost HER2 only; 3 lost both ER/PR and HER2); one of 33 (3%) ER/PR-negative receptor/HER2-positive primaries (gained ER); and 7 of 39 (18%) triple-negative primaries (5 gained ER/PR and 2 gained HER2).
Tumor subtype analyses indicated that the TGFB1 rs1982073 association may be confined to increased risk of developing progesterone receptor negative (PR(-)) tumors [1.18 (95% CI: 1.09-1.28), 4.1 × 10(-5) (P value for heterogeneity of ORs by PR status = 2.3 × 10(-4))].
Tumor subtypes associated with different responses to neoadjuvant therapies can be identified through the evaluation of pathological features that include grade, the degree of expression of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PgR) receptors and markers of cell proliferation such as Ki67 labeling index.
Tumors with diameter ≤18.5 mm (1.5-fold; p=0.019), tumors positive for estrogen receptor (fold-change, 1.71; p=0.042), progesterone receptor (fold-change, 1.50; p=0.046) and negative for HER2 (fold-change, 1.50; p=0.016) and high Ki-67 index (fold-change, 2.60; p=0.024) presented a significant difference in miR-203a expression compared with adjacent normal tissues.
Tumours with the infiltrating pattern were associated with high FIGO grade (P = 0.002), reduced ER and PR, and CD44 expression (P = 0.014, 0.026, and 0.030, respectively); those with a MELF pattern showed LN metastasis (P < 0.001), lymphovascular invasion (P = 0.011), and reduced ER, CD44, and CD133 expression (P = 0.036, 0.006, and 0.016, respectively).
Tumor size (p < 0.001), progesterone receptor (PgR) status (p = 0.001), and proliferation index (Ki-67) levels (p < 0.001) were important factors for chemotherapy decision-making in node-negative/micrometastasis patients who did not undergo the assay.
Tumors with and without AI on 16q were tested for correlation with clinico-pathological features of the tumors such as estrogen- and progesterone-receptor content (ER and PgR), age at diagnosis, tumor size, node status, histological type, S-phase fraction, AI on chromosome 3p, and ploidy.
Tumors with overexpression of cyclin D1 were estrogen receptor-positive (P < .005) and usually progesterone receptor-positive (P < .005) but otherwise were similar to other negative cases in the study group.
Tumours had been previously characterised for oestrogen (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR) status and proliferative activity (3H-thymidine labelling index).
Progesterone receptor (PR) expression is found to be consistent with ER expression and mutations in the <i>BRCA1</i> gene, a tumor-suppressor gene, are known to be responsible for about 40%-45% of hereditary breast cancers.
A comprehensive investigation into the expression profile and activity of progesterone receptor spliced variants in breast cancer is required to advance our understanding of tumour hormone receptor status.
A FAM labeled MGB probe and primers were used to amplify the mtDNA sequence of the ATP 8 gene, and a VIC labeled MGB probe and primers were employed to amplify the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase gene. mtDNA content was correlated with tumor stage, menstruation status, and age of patients as well as lymph node status and the expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and Her-2/neu protein.
A high apoptotic index (Bcl2/Bax < 0.5) correlated significantly with progesterone receptor expression (p = 0.037) and c-erb-B2 expression (p = 0.018), and this correlation was maintained, whether previously treated tumors were included into the study or not (p = 0.038 and p = 0.027, respectively).
A multivariate graphical display on a subset of the most informative cases revealed that bcl-2 expression parallels ER/PGR status and is of importance in separating tumour clusters with different degrees of aggressiveness.
A significant correlation was seen between grade III tumor and loss of expression of ERalpha, ERbeta, PR (all P < .0001), and MGMT (P = .04), whereas loss of expression of p16 was associated with grades I and II tumors (P < .001).