Abstract:
Objective To investigate the expression and significance of p53, bcl-2 and CD44v6 in breast cancer and normal breast tissue beside cancer tissue. Methods Expression of p53, bcl-2 and CD44v6 were tested in 96 cases by immunohistochemical methods. The significance of these markers was evaluated by analyzing the correlation between these markers and lymph node metastasis, expression of c-erbB-2. Results p53 was negative in normal breast tissue while was positive in 65. 63 % cancer tissue. There was a significant positive correlation between expression of p53 and histological grade, lymph node metastasis, expression of c-erbB-2. Expression of bcl-2 in breast tissue was significantly lower than that in normal tissue and a negative correlation was found between expression of bcl-2 and histological grade, lymph-node metastasis, expression of c-erbB-2. Expression of CD44v6 in breast tissue was significantly higher than that in normal tissue and no correlation was found between expression of CD44v6 and histological grade, lymph-node metastasis, expression of c-erbB-2. Conclusion p53 and bcl-2 can be used as important metastasis markers for breast cancer, while CD44v6 can not be regarded as a stable biological symbol of metastasis even though it also has some relationship with breast cancer yet .