J Korean Surg Soc.  1999 Jan;56(1):35-42.

Nm23 Protein as a Prognostic Factor in Lymph Node Negative Breast Cancers

• Bae JW
• Kim J
• Cho MY
• Lee ES
• Koo BH

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Nm23 gene was identified by the hybridization between two murine melanoma cell lines which had low or high metastatic potential and was located in chromosome 17q22. A number of tumor cohort studies have shown an inverse relationship between the levels of expression of nm23 protein and disease aggressiveness and tumor metastatic potential.
METHODS
In order to determine the significance of overexpression of the antimetastatic gene nm23 protein in human-lymph node-negative breast cancer and to compare it with established clinicopathologic prognostic factors such as the tumor size, histologic grades, TNM stages, and hormonal receptor status, we analyzed the nm23 protein expressions by immunohistochemical staining in 53 lymph-node-negative breast-cancer tissue specimens.
RESULTS
The nm23 protein expression was positive in 35 cases (66%). There was no relationship between nm23 protein overexpression and menopause status, tumor size, histologic grade, and hormonal receptor status, but tumor stage correlated with nm23 protein overexpression. Also, overexpression of the nm23 protein was significantly correlated with a longer disease-free survival rate.
CONCLUSION
Expression of nm23 protein may be of value for predicting the long-term disease-free survival rate in lymph-node-negative breast-cancer patients.

Keyword

Breast cancer; Lymph node negative; nm23 protein; Immnuohistochemistry

MeSH Terms

Breast Neoplasms
Breast*
Cell Line
Cohort Studies
Disease-Free Survival
Female
Humans
Lymph Nodes*
Melanoma
Menopause
Staphylococcal Protein A*
Staphylococcal Protein A