Immunohistochemical evaluation of epithelial mesenchymal transition in breast carcinoma by E-cadherin, snail, TGF-β, lyric and fibronectin antibodies

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women in both Turkey and in the world. It is the second most common cancer type in cancer-related deaths after lung cancer. When examined for tumor histopathology, clinical course and response to treatment; it appears that all breast cancer types have a unique molecular variety. Epithelial-mesenchymal transformation is defined as loss of epithelial characteristics of epithelial cells and to acquire mesenchymal phenotype. Increased aggressive trend in carcinoma cells is directly associated with invasion and metastatic potential. Some of the intracellular molecules that are transcriptionally affected by the epithelial-mesenchymal transition are E-cadherin, Snail, TGF-β, Lyric and Fibronectin. In our study, 80 tumors with invasive breast carcinoma and 30 ductal carcinoma in situ diagnosed in Baskent University Faculty of Medicine Department of Pathology were studied. TGF-β, Snail, Lyric, E-cadherin and Fibronectin expressions were examined along with clinicopathologic characteristics in invasive breast carcinoma without specific features and ductal carcinoma in situ and investigated whether there were any differences in terms of epithelial-mesenchymal transformation and tumor invasion. When the results of our study were evaluated, immunohistochemically increased TGF-β, Lyric, Snail and Fibronectin expressions and decreased E-cadherin expression were found to be associated with poor prognosis. It is considered that these markers may be biomarker candidates for epithelial-mesenchymal transition. It has been concluded that, in order to be used in routine clinical practice there is a need for studies on invasive breast carcinomas in larger series and in different histological types.