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Updated: Jul 17, 2026
Draining Lymph Node Metastasis Model for Assessing the Dynamics of Antigen-Specific CD8+ T Cells During Tumorigenesis
Published on: January 26, 2024
Lymph node metastases displaying lower Ki-67 immunostaining activity than the primary breast cancer
D Cabibi1, V Mustacchio, A Martorana
1Dipartimento di Patologia Umana Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Policlinico Universitario, 90127, Palermo, Italy.
Unlabelled:
The aim of the study was to verify by Ki-67 immunostaining if any difference exists in the cell proliferating fraction between primary breast tumors (PTs) and matching positive axillary lymph nodes (ALNs).
Patients And Methods:
Immunohistochemistry with the monoclonal antibody against Ki-67 was performed in 160 node-positive breast carcinomas and in their respective lymph node metastases.
Results:
An increase of Ki-67 immunoreactive cells in ALN compared with that of PTs was observed in 84% of cases (ALN: mean 17%, PTs: mean 8%; p < 0.001), whereas 16% of the cases showed Ki-67 value two to six times lower in the ALNs than in the corresponding PTs (ALN: mean 3.2%, PTs mean 12.5%; p < 0.005). The decrease of Ki-67 positive cells in the ALN was independent from the histotype and the histological grade of the tumor.
Conclusion:
A different cell proliferation fraction between PTs and matching positive ALNs was demonstrated and underlined that the existence of a group of patients with decreased number of Ki-67 immunoreactive cells in lymph node metastases compared with that of the primary tumors could be taken into account in the choice of therapeutic strategy.
