Aim: To determine the patterns of lactoferrin (LF) expression in breast cancer (BC) in relation to biologic properties of the neoplasms and clinical features of the disease course. Materials and Methods: Clinical specimens of 266 BC patients (115 patients with BC of stages I–II — retrospective study, and 151 BC patients — prospective study) were analyzed. Morphological, immunohistochemical and statistical methods were used. Results: The number of LF-positive tumors in retrospective and prospective groups was similar (52.1 and 52.8%, respectively). Among common clinical criteria for prognosis of the disease outcome in BC patients (patient’s age; stage of the disease; histological type, differentiation grade, receptor status; presence of metastases), a strong correlation was found only between expression indexes of LF and estrogen receptors (ER). In ER-positive tumors expression of LF was significantly higher than in ER-negative tumors (35 vs 18%). 5-Year survival rate of BC patients was higher in LF-positive group (70 vs 52% in LF-negative group). The presence of regional metastasis tended to correlate with an increased number of LF-positive tumors. In the patients with invasive ductal carcinoma, expression level of LF moderately correlated with occurrence of luminal A subtype (r = 0.43), while in the patients with invasive lobular carcinoma this index strongly correlated with occurrence of luminal B subtype (r = 0.71). LF expression correlated positively with low and moderate differentiation grade of luminal B or basal tumors, and negatively with luminal B or basal tumors of high differentiation grade (r = −0.57 and −0.63, respectively). Conclusion: It has been shown that LF expression in breast tumors correlated with life expectancy of BC patients and important physiologic and clinical features of the disease, while the character of such relation strongly depended on molecular phenotype of tumor, i.e. luminal A, luminal B or basal.
Summary. The aim of the study was to evaluate the morphological features of endometrioid carcinoma of the endometrium (ECE) of low differentiation grade with different invasive potential and to characterize their molecular phenotype by the expression of a number of adhesion markers. Materials and Methods: We have studied the samples of operation material of 37 patients with ECE of low differentiation grade with deep invasion (> ½ myometrium), n = 26, and with invasion < ½ myometrium, n = 11, with the use of morphological and immunohistochemical methods, and flow cytometry. Results: In the morphological study of tumors with deep invasion in the myometrium, we have detected pronounced structural heterogeneity, which became the basis for the discretion of two groups of tumors with different characteristics of morphological phenotypes. In the majority of cases, solid layers and glandular-like structures are detected, and the similarity of the tumor epithelium with the elements of the endometrium is completely lost. In such tumors high expression of adhesion molecules – E-cadherin, CD44, CD24, and β-catenin and low expression of the marker of mesenchymal tissues — vimentin were determined. Other tumors were characterized by morphological features of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), with the decrease of the expression of E-cadherin, β-catenin, CD24, CD44, and a significant increase in vimentin expression in comparison with these indices in tumors without signs of EMT. In ECEs that invade < ½ myometrium, the morphological indices of malignancy were less pronounced, which was associated by the changes in the expression of the molecular markers. Conclusion: This comprehensive study has established associations between the morphological heterogeneity of ECE and the expression of adhesion markers and vimentin, which is important for understanding the mechanisms of tumor cell migration.
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