Tie-1 tyrosine kinase is an independent prognostic indicator for invasive breast cancer

Receptor tyrosine kinases are known to be involved in the growth, progression and metastasis of solid tumors. We investigated the relationship between tie-1 expression and progression of invasive ductal breast carcinoma with immunohistochemical analysis. Tie-1 protein was detected in the microvessel endothelial cells and cytoplasm of tumor cells. The tumor size and stage were significantly associated with the expression of tie-1, which portends a worse 5-year disease-free status (39.3% v 59.2%, p = 0.07) and overall survival rate (67.3% v 93%, p = 0.02) than those without tie-1 expression. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that larger tumor size, presence of lymph node metastasis and tie-1 expression were independent prognostic parameters, both in 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival. Patients with lymph node metastases and tie-1 expression had the worst 5-year disease-free survival (0%) and overall survival (42.4%) compared to those without tie-1 expression (50.2%, 85%). In lymph node negative patients, those without tie-1 expression had better 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival (72.9%, 100%) compared to those with tie-1 expression (65.5%, 87.7%). We conclude that tie-1 expression is an independent prognostic factor for invasive ductal breast carcinoma, adversely affecting survival of breast cancer patients with positive nodes to a significant extent.