Evaluation of clinical significance of endoglin expression during breast cancer and its correlation with ER and PCNA.

OBJECTIVE: The present study is aimed to investigate the expression of Endoglin during breast cancer. Moreover, its clinical pathological significance, as well as correlation with estrogen receptor (ER) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), were also studied. PATIENTS AND METHODS: qRT-PCR and Western blot assays were utilized to study PCNA mRNA, ER, Endoglin and protein expression. Immunohistochemistry analysis was conducted to determine the expression of Endoglin, ER, and PCNA protein in breast cancer tissue and adjacent cancer tissue. The microvascular density (MVD) was indicated by expression of Endoglin protein. The positive cell rate was used to express the protein expression level of ER and PCNA. RESULTS: The mRNA expression levels of Endoglin, ER, and PCNA were significantly elevated in breast cancer tumor tissues in comparison with the cancer-adjacent tissues. The positive expression rates of Endoglin, ER, and PCNA were 69%, 56%, and 73% respectively in breast cancer tumor tissues. Endoglin MVD values in breast cancer tissues and cancer-adjacent tissues were (35.18 ± 9.57)/mm² and (7.21 ± 1.63)/mm², respectively. The expression of Endoglin protein in breast tumor tissues was positively correlated to lymph node metastasis and TNM stages, but it was not to menopause and tumor size. Endoglin protein was positively correlated to the expression of PCNA protein, but was not correlated to ER expression. CONCLUSIONS: Endoglin protein expression is positively correlated to PCNA protein expression. So, Endoglin MVD in breast cancer tissues has important clinical significance in the assessment of breast cancer prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]