Prognostic significance of laminin production in relation with its receptor expression in human breast carcinomas

Laminin is a basement membrane glycoprotein whose expression has been widely related to cancer progression. Laminin production by primary breast carcinomas was investigated using immunohistochemistry on archival specimens from a retrospective series with long term follow-up. Laminin production was found to be independent of the clinical and pathological variables analyzed, whereas a statistically significant direct association with the expression of the laminin receptor and a negative association with the differentiation-related antigen Ca-MBr8 were observed. Survival analysis indicated that laminin positivity by itself has no prognostic significance. However, when analyzed together with the laminin receptor expression, laminin was associated with a good prognosis in receptor-negative tumors and with the worst prognosis in receptor-positive tumors.