Glypican-3 Expression in Breast Cancer

BackgroundThe protein Glypican-3 has been found in various types of tumors and has shown promise as a tumor marker. However, there is still very limited information about the role of Glypican-3 in breast cancer. Tissue microarray (TMA) analyzes thousands of specimens in parallel with minimal damage to the origin blocks. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the role of Glypican-3 status in breast cancer using TMA.Materials and MethodsArchival tissue specimens from 99 patients with primary invasive breast cancer were analyzed for Glypican-3 expression by immunohistochemical staining with TMA. The results were compared to clinicopathologic data by the use of multivariate analysis.ResultsTNM stage was significantly related to the overall 5-year survival rate. Nevertheless, Glypican-3 expression has no significant relationship to overall five-year survival.ConclusionsImmunohistochemical staining with TMA was convenient and feasible for analyzing Glypican-3 expression status in breast cancer. However, our preliminary results show that Glypican-3 expression had no significant prognostic value in breast cancer.