Diagnostic and prognostic relevance of Cullin1 expression in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast

摘要

Background Cullini (Cull) is a matrix degrading enzyme known to be involved in the remodelling of extracellular matrix proteins. This enzyme has recently been reported to play a key role in tumour progression and its presence is associated with poor clinical outcome for several different types of tumours. Methods 159 patients diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma between 2000 and 2005 were studied. Cull expression was analysed by immunohistochemical staining on a tissue microarray. The relationship between Cull expression and clinicopathological parameters was evaluated. Results Tumour expression of Cull was correlated with prognostic factors such as high histological grade and p53 expression, and was also linked to negative ER and positive HER2 as therapeutic markers (all p<0.05). There was a significant association between poor overall survival and high Cull expression in both univariate and multivariate analyses (all p<0.05). Conclusions Cull expression was significantly associated with high-grade tumours and poor prognosis, suggesting that it may play a role in breast tumour progression. Cull expression may therefore be crucial for the prediction of disease outcome in breast cancer patients.