Maspin mRNA expression in sentinel lymph nodes predicts non-SLN metastasis in breast cancer patients with SLN metastasis.
AIMS
Maspin is known to be a tumour suppressor protein, but its prognostic significance in breast cancer patients is controversial. There is no report focusing on maspin expression in metastatic carcinoma of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs); we thus investigated maspin mRNA expression in SLNs using the remaining specimens after the one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) assay.


METHODS AND RESULTS
Ninety-three breast cancer patients with SLNs metastasis detected by the OSNA assay were enrolled. All patients experienced additional axillary lymph nodes (LNs) dissection and all dissected LNs were examined histopathologically. Maspin mRNA expression in SLNs was detected in 49.5% (46 of 93) and was correlated significantly with the presence of non-SLN metastasis (P < 0.0001) and ≥4 LN metastases (P = 0.029). In a multivariate logistic analysis, maspin mRNA expression in SLNs (P = 0.0015) had the most significant effect on predicting non-SLN metastasis, followed by pathological tumour size (P = 0.0039) and lymphovascular invasion (P = 0.009). The status of maspin mRNA expression in SLNs was correlated significantly with that of maspin protein expression in the primary carcinoma (P < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first study, to our knowledge, demonstrating that maspin mRNA expression in SLNs is an independent predictor of non-SLN metastasis and the presence of ≥4 LN metastases in breast cancer patients with SLN metastasis. The investigation of maspin mRNA expression in SLNs using the remaining specimens after the OSNA assay may be useful for predicting the further progression of metastatic carcinoma in breast cancer patients with SLNs metastasis.
['Umekita|Yoshihisa|Y|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2846-390X', 'Ohi|Yasuyo|Y|', 'Iwaya|Orie|O|', 'Souda|Masakazu|M|', 'Sagara|Yasuaki|Y|', 'Tamada|Shugo|S|', 'Yotsumoto|Daisuke|D|', 'Tanimoto|Akihide|A|']
D001943:Breast Neoplasms D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis D008875:Middle Aged D011379:Prognosis D000071036:Sentinel Lymph Node D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy D015843:Serpins
maspin sentinel lymph node breast cancer OSNA