Original Article
Mod Pathol 2001;14(7):650–654
The Prognostic Significance of P-Cadherin in Infiltrating Ductal Breast Carcinoma
Carlos Gamallo M.D.1, Gema Moreno-Bueno Ph.D.2, David Sarrió Ph.D.2, Francisco Calero M.D.3, David Hardisson M.D.4 and José Palacios M.D.2
- 1Servicio de Anatomía Patológica, Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, Madrid, Spain
- 2Programa de Patología Molecular, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO) Carlos III, Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain
- 3Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain
- 4Anatomía Patológica, Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain
Correspondence: José Palacios, M.D., Programa de Patología Molecular, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas Carlos III, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ctra Majadahonda-Pozuelo, Km 2. 280220 Majadahonda Madrid, Spain. e-mail: jpalacios@cnio.es; fax: 34-91- 509-70-52
Accepted 27 February 2001.
Abstract
We have immunohistochemically investigated P-cadherin (P-CD) expression in a series of 210 infiltrating ductal carcinomas (IDC) in an attempt to assess the biological and prognostic relevance of P-CD in patients harboring IDCs. Although only 74/210 (35%) of IDCs expressed P-CD in >5% of tumor cells (P-CD–positive carcinomas), categorical analyses revealed that P-CD–positive IDCs were larger (26 
21 cm versus 22 11 cm, P = .0568), of higher histological grade (P = .0001), and had more lymph node metastases (P = .0327) than P-CD–negative breast carcinomas. In addition, P-CD–positive tumors were negative for estrogen (P = .0001) and progesterone receptors (P = .0001) and showed reduced E-cadherin expression (P = .0276) more frequently than P-CD–negative tumors. Univariate analysis carried out in 171 patients demonstrated that P-CD expression was also an indicator of poor prognosis (
2 = 8.292, P = .004), extent of lymph node metastasis (2 = 20.854, P = .0000), histological grade (2 = 12.908, P = .0016), and negative progesterone receptors (2 = 4.116, P = .042). However, only histological grade and nodal metastases emerged as independent prognostic markers in the multivariate analysis. These results suggest that although P-CD expression may be involved in the progression of IDCs, its value as an independent prognostic factor remains to be established.
Keywords:
Breast cancer, E-cadherin, P-cadherin, Prognosis, Tumor progression
