TAG-72 expression and clinical outcome in primary breast cancer

Clinical data of 92 patients with primary breast carcinomas previously analysed for the pattern of immunohistochemical expression of three distinct carbohydrate epitopes of the TAG-72 molecule were reviewed. The clinical outcome of the patients after a median follow-up of 66 months was determined in 84 out of 92 patients. Clinicopathological characteristics of the tumours and clinical outcome of the patients were correlated with the TAG-72 epitope expression. TAG-72 was expressed more frequently in patients aged more than 50 years and in tumours of larger size, with lymph nodes metastasis, with low differentiation and with high proliferative activity. A statistical correlation was found with more advanced stages of the disease (35.7% vs 60% in stage I and in stage II-III, respectively, p=0.03). Disease-free survival and overall survival were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The survival of the patients with tumours expressing TAG-72 was not statistically different from that of patients with tumours without TAG-72 expression. These data suggest that TAG-72 expression is associated with clinicopathological parameters of aggressiveness in primary breast cancer, but it does not appear to affect the clinical outcome of the patients.