Related Experiment Videos
PCNA immunostaining in breast cancer
M C Cummings1, C M Furnival, P G Parsons
1Department of Pathology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery
|August 1, 1993
Summary
Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) levels did not correlate with breast cancer survival. This study found PCNA index has little prognostic value for breast cancer patients, except for a link to histological grade.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Pathology
Background:
- Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression is a potential prognostic marker in various cancers.
- Its prognostic significance in breast cancer requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the correlation between PCNA abundance and survival in breast cancer patients.
- To assess the prognostic value of PCNA index in breast cancer.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of PCNA index in paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 48 breast cancer patients with at least 5 years of clinical follow-up.
- Statistical analysis using Wilcoxon's rank sum test and Pearson's correlation coefficient.
Main Results:
- No significant difference in PCNA indices between patients who died within 5 years and those alive and disease-free at 5 years.
- No correlation found between PCNA index and tumor size, lymph node involvement, time to recurrence, or time to death.
- A significant correlation was observed between PCNA index and histological grade (P = 0.029).
Conclusions:
- PCNA staining of archival paraffin sections demonstrates limited prognostic value in breast cancer.
- PCNA index may be associated with histological grade but not overall survival or other key clinical outcomes.