Detection of micrometastasis in sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) is a very useful tool for appropriate assessment of the clinical stage of disease in breast cancer patients. Early identification of clinically relevant disease could lead to early treatment or staging approaches for breast cancer patient. Micrometastases in SLNs of women with invasive breast cancer are of great significance in this context. In this study we examined SLN biopsies considered to have small numbers of cancerous cells by real time RT-PCR. All of the samples underwent immunohistochemical staining for cytokeratin for confirmation of the presence or absence of micrometastases. BUB1b expression assay of selected patients with and without metastasis showed overexpression in the former, but not in normal breast and lymph node tissue. Our results may be taken into account in the discussion about the merits of routine use of molecular assessment in pathogenetic studies of SLNs.
Breast cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer among women around the world, and mortality is primarily caused by micro-metastatic disease. The complex mechanisms of breast cancer invasion and metastasis are intrinsically related to the malignant cell type so that early detection of micro-metastases can help prolongation of survival for patient. The aim of the present research work was evaluation of the expression status of mammoglobin protein as a candidate molecular marker in the negative sentinel lymph node (SLN). Fifty tumor specimens, and 50 normal adjacent breast tissue samples from the same patients were selected on the basis of having more than 10% tumor content for RNA extraction from SLNs. Tumor samples and normal adjacent breast tissue were archived in the form of frozen fresh tissue in liquid nitrogen. Real-time PCR was performed on a Bioner life express gradient thermal cycler system. Mammoglobin gene overexpression in breast cancer metastasis was investigated. Single marker results were mammaglobin 66.7% and CK19 50.0%, with 58.3% for the two in combination. Due to improved outcome with at least 3 genes (83.3%), it seems, triple marker evaluation will be most likely useful for detecting micro-metastases instead of studying separate genes.
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