The expression of prostate-specific antigen in invasive breast carcinoma and its relationship with routine clinicopathologic parameters

Authors

1 Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

2 Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Mazandaran, Iran

3 School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Background: Invasive breast carcinoma is one of the most common cancers of women. Parameters such as lymph node status, tumor grade, and the status of hormone receptors are among the main prognostic determinants of this cancer. Immunohistochemical detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is widely used to identify metastatic prostatic adenocarcinoma. However, its immunoreactivity has been found in some non-prostatic tissues. This study was conducted to assess PSA expression in invasive breast carcinoma and its relationship with routine clinicopathologic parameters.
Materials and Methods: 100 formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded invasive breast carcinoma tissue specimens from the pathology archive of Alzahra hospital (Isfahan, Iran) were studied for the expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), HER2/neu, and PSA by immunohistochemistry. Stained sections were classified according to the intensity of staining and the percentage of cells showing PSA staining. The relationship between PSA expression and other markers, age, lymph node status, tumor subtype, and tumor grade was then studied.
Results: No association was found between PSA expression on one hand and PR, Her2/neu, age, lymph node status, tumor grade, and tumor subtype on the other. PSA score was reversely correlated with ER expression (P = 0.015).
Conclusion: Despite the reverse relationship between PSA expression and the immunoreactivity of ER, PSA expression was not correlated with other prognostic factors. Therefore, the detection of PSA by immunohistochemistry does not seem to be a significant prognostic parameter in patients with invasive breast carcinoma.

Keywords

1. Fabian CJ, Kimler BF, Elledge RM, Grizzle WE, Beenken SW, Ward JH. Models for early chemoprevention trials in breast cancer. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am 1998;12:993-1017.  Back to cited text no. 1
    
2. Rosai J. Rosai and Ackerman's surgical pathology. 10 th ed. Edinburgh: Mosby; 2011. p. 1681-722.  Back to cited text no. 2
    
3. Diamandis EP, Yousef GM, Luo LY, Magklara A, Obiezu CV. The new human kallikrein gene family: Implications in carcinogenesis. Trends Endocrinol Metab 2000;11:54-60.  Back to cited text no. 3
    
4. Ilvan S, Celik V, Cetinaslan I, Calay Z, Ferahman M. Immunohistochemical analysis of prostate-specific antigen in female breast cancer. J BUON 2004;9:183-6.  Back to cited text no. 4
    
5. Hall RE, Clements JA, Birrell SN, Tilley WD. Prostate-specific antigen and gross cystic disease fluid protein-15 are co-expressed in androgen receptor-positive breast tumours. Br J Cancer 1998;78:360-5.  Back to cited text no. 5
    
6. Narita D, Raica M, Anghel A, Suciu C, Cimpean A. Immunohistochemical localization of prostate-specific antigen in benign and malignant breast conditions. Rom J Morphol Embryol 2005;46:41-5.  Back to cited text no. 6
    
7. Foekens JA, Diamandis EP, Yu H, Look MP, Meijer-van Gelder ME, van Putten WL, et al. Expression of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) correlates with poor response to tamoxifen therapy in recurrent breast cancer. Br J Cancer 1999;79:888-94.  Back to cited text no. 7
    
8. Narita D, Raica M, Suciu C, Cimpean A, Anghel A. Immunohistochemical expression of androgen receptor and prostate-specific antigen in breast cancer. Folia Histochem Cytobiol 2006;44:165-72.  Back to cited text no. 8
    
9. Zarghami N, Grass L, Diamandis EP. Steroid hormone regulation of prostate-specific antigen gene expression in breast cancer. Br J Cancer 1997;75:579-88.  Back to cited text no. 9
    
10. Yu H, Giai M, Diamandis EP, Katsaros D, Sutherland DJ, Levesque MA, et al. Prostate-specific antigen is a new favorable prognostic indicator for women with breast cancer. Cancer Res 1995;55:2104-10.  Back to cited text no. 10
    
11. Narita D, Cimpean AM, Anghel A, Raica M. Prostate-specific antigen value as a marker in breast cancer. Neoplasma 2006;53:161-7.  Back to cited text no. 11
    
12. Heyl W, Wolff JM, Biesterfeld S, Schroder W, Zitzelsberger D, Jakse G, et al. Immunohistochemical analysis of prostate-specific antigen does not correlate to other prognostic factors in breast cancer. Anticancer Res 1999;19:2263-5.  Back to cited text no. 12
    
13. Poh BH, Jayaram G, Sthaneshwar P, Yip CH. Prostate-specific antigen in breast disease. Malays J Pathol 2008;30:43-51.  Back to cited text no. 13
    
14. Kraus TS, Cohen C, Siddiqui MT. Prostate-specific antigen and hormone receptor expression in male and female breast carcinoma. Diagn Pathol 2010;5:63.  Back to cited text no. 14
    
15. Yu H, Diamandis EP, Sutherland DJ. Immunoreactive prostate-specific antigen levels in female and male breast tumors and its association with steroid hormone receptors and patient age. Clin Biochem 1994;27:75-9.  Back to cited text no. 15
    
16. Wolff AC, Hammond ME, Schwartz JN, Hagerty KL, Allred DC, Cote RJ, et al. American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists guideline recommendations for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 testing in breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 2007;25:118-45. Epub 2006 Dec 11.  Back to cited text no. 16
    
17. Yu H, Levesque MA, Clark GM, Diamandis EP. Prognostic value of prostate-specific antigen for women with breast cancer: a large United States cohort study. Clin Cancer Res 1998;4:1489-97.  Back to cited text no. 17
    
18. Alanen KA, Kuopio T, Collan Yu, Kronqvist P, Juntti L, Nevalainen TJ. Immunohistochemical labeling for prostate-specific antigen in breast carcinomas. Breast Cancer Res Treat 1999;56:169-76.  Back to cited text no. 18