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Vimentin--a new prognostic parameter in breast carcinoma?
1Division of Tissue Pathology, Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide, South Australia.
The Journal of Pathology
|June 1, 1989
Summary
Vimentin expression in breast cancer indicates aggressive tumors and a high growth rate. This suggests vimentin may predict which patients benefit from early treatment.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Pathology
- Biomarkers
Background:
- Vimentin is an intermediate filament protein.
- Its role in aggressive breast cancer subtypes requires further elucidation.
- Cytokeratin and vimentin expression patterns can inform tumor biology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between vimentin expression and tumor growth fraction in infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma.
- To determine if vimentin expression is a predictor of aggressive tumor behavior.
- To explore correlations between vimentin positivity and clinicopathological features.
Main Methods:
- Immunohistochemical staining of 84 breast neoplasms using anti-vimentin and anti-cytokeratin antibodies.
- Tumor growth fraction assessment via Ki-67 immunostaining.
- Statistical analysis to correlate vimentin expression with histological grade, ER status, patient age, and metastasis.
Main Results:
- Co-expression of cytokeratin and vimentin was observed in 9.2% of infiltrating ductal carcinomas.
- These tumors exhibited significantly higher Ki-67 counts (>40%) compared to the mean (P < 0.0001).
- Vimentin immunoreactivity positively correlated with histological grade (P < 0.002) and inversely with ER count (P < 0.0002) and patient age (P < 0.01).
Conclusions:
- Vimentin expression is positively associated with a high tumor growth fraction in infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma.
- Vimentin may serve as a predictive biomarker for aggressive tumor behavior.
- Early adjuvant therapy might benefit patients with vimentin-positive carcinomas.