Nestin is expressed in basal-like and triple negative breast cancers
Suzanne Parry 1, Kay Savage 1, Caterina Marchio 1 and Jorge Sergio Reis Filho 1*
1 Institute of Cancer Research, United Kingdom
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jorgerf{at}icr.ac.uk.
Accepted 9 June 2008
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Abstract |
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Aims: To analyse the distribution of Nestin expression in different breast tumours and to determine the prognostic impact of Nestin expression.
Methods: Nestin expression was immunohistochemically analysed in a cohort of 245 invasive breast cancer patients treated with therapeutic surgery followed by anthracycline-based chemotherapy using a semi-quantitative scoring system.
Results: Nestin was exclusively expressed in grade III breast carcinoma and preferentially expressed in basal-like and triple negative cancers. Nestin-positive tumours displayed high proliferation rates and p53 nuclear expression. Lymph-node positive patients with Nestin-positive cancers had a shorter breast cancer specific survival; however Nestin was not an independent prognostic factor on multivariate analysis.
Conclusions: Nestin expression is preferentially found in basal-like and triple negative breast carcinomas. Further studies are warranted to define the biological role played by Nestin in these subgroups of breast cancers.
