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Updated: Jul 10, 2026
Optimization of a Multiplex RNA-based Expression Assay Using Breast Cancer Archival Material
Published on: August 1, 2018
Expression of syndecan-1 in paired samples of normal and malignant breast tissue from postmenopausal women
1Department of Surgery, St Görans Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. lars.lofgren@capio.se
Background:
The mammary stroma is important for modulating epithelial breast cell response to sex steroid hormones. Proteoglycans, such as syndecan-1, promote the integration of cellular signals.
Materials And Methods:
The immunohistochemical expression of syndecan-1 and of the androgen receptor (AR) was analyzed in paired samples of cancer and adjacent normal tissue from postmenopausal women.
Results:
Normal and cancer tissue showed dramatic differences in the expression of syndecan-1. In malignant breast stroma, mean values were more than 10-fold higher than in normal tissue (p<0.001). There was also a marked redistribution from the epithelium to the stroma. The expression of AR was on average 2-fold higher in cancerous than in normal tissue (p<0.01).
Conclusion:
Breast cancer patients have very different prognoses. Syndecan-1 and the AR may be new molecular markers relevant to clinical outcome. The redistribution from the epithelium and the dramatic increase of syndecan-1 in cancerous stroma may be related to the natural history of the disease.
