Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Fig. 1.
A, ductal carcinoma, grade I. Nuclear staining (arrow). B, strong nuclear (arrows) AP-2 staining in ductal carcinoma, grade II. C, ductal carcinoma, grade III. Nuclear (arrow) and cytoplasmic (asterisk) expressions. D, cytoplasmic expression (asterisk) with a few positive nuclei in ductal carcinoma, grade III. E1–E2, lobular carcinoma, nuclear staining. F1–F2, negative control slides of samples B and C, respectively. A–D, E2–F2: bar, 40 μm; E1: bar, 80 μm.
- Fig. 2.
Western blot analysis for AP-2. Four representative AP-2-positive tumor samples (T) and one benign AP-2 positive breast sample (N) were included in the analysis. All of the samples showed a band Mr about 50,000, which is the same as given for AP-2α. Trial Mix Protein marker (M) was used as a size marker. kDa, Mr in thousands.
- Fig. 3.
The P of RFS according to nuclear AP-2 expression (median as a cutoff value). A, in all of the patients; B, in the lymph node-positive patients.
- Fig. 4.
Probability of RFS according to combined (nuclear/cytoplasmic) expression of AP-2. The group “nuclear” contains those patients with high nuclear AP-2 expression without cytoplasmic involvement. The group titled as “others” contains all of the patients with low nuclear AP-2 expression and those with positive cytoplasmic staining. A, all of the patients; B, the lymph node-positive patients.
Tables
- Table 1
The clinicopathological data of the patients
Characteristic n % No. of patients 420 100 Age, yr Mean (range) 59.1 (23.3–91.6) Tumor size T1 218 52 T2 168 40 T3 24 6 T4 10 2 Lymph node status Negative 244 58 Positive 168 40 Unknown 8 2 Stage I 160 38 II 213 51 III 39 9 Unknown 8 2 Histological type Ductal 270 64 Lobular 68 16 Other 82 20 Histological grade I 110 26 II 192 46 III 118 28 ER status Positive 326 78 Negative 93 22 Data not available 1 <1 PR status Positive 261 62 Negative 157 37 Data not available 2 1 Menopausal status Premenopausal 131 31 Postmenopausal 289 69 Recurrence at 5 yr No 344 82 Yes 76 18 Cause of death at 5 yr Alive 333 79 Breast cancer 50 12 Other 37 9 - Table 2
Relationships between nuclear AP-2 expression and clinicopathological variables
Variable Sample n AP-2 expression (%) χ2 df P Lowa Higha Stage 412 12.4 2 0.002 I 160 39 61 II 213 57 43 III 39 59 41 Lymph node status 412 6.4 1 0.012 Negative 244 45 55 Positive 168 58 42 Histological type 420 6.1 2 0.048 Ductal 270 52 48 Lobular 68 37 63 Other 82 55 45 Histological grade 420 14.1 2 0.001 I 110 39 61 II 192 48 52 III 118 64 36 ER-status 419 <0.1 1 0.927 Positive 326 50 50 Negative 93 51 49 PR-status 418 <0.1 1 0.860 Positive 261 51 49 Negative 157 50 50 Recurrence at 5 yr 420 9.0 1 0.003 No 344 47 53 Yes 76 66 34 -
a Median as a cutoff value.
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- Table 3
Statistically significant variables of BCRS and RFS in univariate analysis
Variable Surviving breast cancer at 5 years Recurrence-free at 5 yr n % P n % P Stage 412 <0.0001 412 <0.0001 I 160 92 160 86 II 213 86 213 77 III 39 55 39 55 Lymph node status 412 <0.0001 412 <0.0001 Negative 244 92 244 86 Positive 168 77 168 68 Histological grade 420 0.0314 420 0.0498 I 110 92 110 85 II 192 85 192 78 III 118 80 118 73 ER status 419 <0.0001 419 0.0910 Positive 326 89 326 80 Negative 93 71 93 74 PR status 418 0.0012 418 0.1884 Positive 261 89 261 80 Negative 157 78 157 76 Nuclear AP-2 420 0.0964 420 0.0028 Low < 80% 211 83 211 73 High ≥ 80% 209 88 209 85 - Table 4
Results of Cox’s multivariate analysis for BCRS and RFS
Category (variable) β (SE) Relative risk (95% CI)a P BCRS Stage <0.0001 I Reference II 0.88 (0.41) 2.41 (1.08–5.39) 0.0323 III 2.25 (0.45) 9.45 (3.92–22.77) <0.0001 ER status Negative 0.87 (0.41) 2.39 (1.08–5.32) 0.0321 Positive Reference RFS Stage 0.0001 I Reference II 0.56 (0.29) 1.74 (0.99–3.08) 0.0560 III 1.53 (0.36) 4.60 (2.26–9.37) <0.0001 Nuclear AP-2 Low < 80% 0.54 (0.25) 1.71 (1.06–2.78) 0.0292 High ≥ 80% Reference RFS in the lymph node-positive patients Stage II Reference III 0.78 (0.31) 2.17 (1.19–3.95) 0.0110 Nuclear AP-2 Low < 80% 0.79 (0.32) 2.20 (1.16–4.14) 0.0151 High ≥ 80% Reference -
a CI, confidence interval.
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Volume 8, Issue 11
