Research article

Expression analysis of carbohydrate antigens in ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast by lectin histochemistry

Soheila Korourian² , Eric Siegel³ , Thomas Kieber-Emmons^1,2 and Behjatolah Monzavi-Karbassi^1,2

¹Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

²Department of Pathology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

³Department of Biostatistics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

author email corresponding author email

BMC Cancer 2008, 8:136doi:10.1186/1471-2407-8-136

Published:	14 May 2008

Abstract

Background

The number of breast cancer patients diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) continues to grow. Laboratory and clinical data indicate that DCIS can progress to invasive disease. Carbohydrate-mediated cell-cell adhesion and tumor-stroma interaction play crucial roles in tumorigenesis and tumor aggressive behavior. Breast carcinogenesis may reflect quantitative as well as qualitative changes in oligosaccharide expression, which may provide a useful tool for early detection of breast cancer. Because tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACA) are implicated in tumor invasion and metastasis, the purpose of this study was to assess the expression of selected TACA by lectin histochemistry on DCIS specimens from the archival breast cancer tissue array bank of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Methods

For detection of TACA expression, specimens were stained with Griffonia simplicifolia lectin-I (GS-I) and Vicia vilosa agglutinin (VVA). We studied associations of lectin reactivity with established prognostic factors, such as tumor size, tumor nuclear grade, and expression of Her-2/neu, p53 mutant and estrogen and progesterone receptors.

Results

We observed that both lectins showed significant associations with nuclear grade of DCIS. DCIS specimens with nuclear grades II and III showed significantly more intense reactivity than DCIS cases with nuclear grade I to GS-1 (Mean-score chi-square = 17.60, DF = 2; P = 0.0002) and VVA (Mean-score chi-square = 15.72, DF = 2; P = 0.0004).

Conclusion

The results suggest that the expression of VVA- and GS-I-reactive carbohydrate antigens may contribute to forming higher grade DCIS and increase the recurrence risk.