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CD1a down‐regulation in primary invasive ductal breast carcinoma may predict regional lymph node invasion and patient outcome
Author(s) -
La Rocca G,
Anzalone R,
Corrao S,
Magno F,
Rappa F,
Marasà S,
Czarnecka A M,
Marasà L,
Sergi C,
Zummo G,
Cappello F
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
histopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.626
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1365-2559
pISSN - 0309-0167
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2559.2007.02919.x
Subject(s) - immunohistochemistry , progesterone receptor , breast cancer , lymph node , ductal carcinoma , cd8 , infiltration (hvac) , antigen , pathology , medicine , carcinoma , mammary gland , lymphovascular invasion , biology , oncology , cancer research , cancer , estrogen receptor , immunology , metastasis , physics , thermodynamics
Aims: CD1a is a molecule belonging to the highly conserved group of CD1 proteins. Its expression in dendritic cells is related to the presentation of tumour‐derived glycolipid antigens to T cells and, consequently, the development of a successful antitumour response. The aim was to investigate the presence of CD1a+ cells in both primary tumours and lymph nodes (LN) of a series of 35 invasive ductal carcinomas by both immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction. Methods and results: CD1a antigen was more expressed in N0 than N1 breast cancer ( P < 0.0001) in both primary lesions and LN metastases and correlated positively and significantly with oestrogen (ER) ( P = 0.0025) and progesterone ( P = 0.0226) receptor (PR) status, as well as CD4+ and CD8+ T‐lymphocyte infiltration. Conclusions: This is the first report to show a link between CD1a+ mononuclear cells in breast cancer and in paired LN metastases. The positive and significant correlations between the number of CD1a+ cells and positivity of the primary tumour for ER and PR suggest a possible role for CD1a as a prognostic marker for breast cancer, raising the possibility that hormone receptor‐positive breast cancer patients may have a better prognosis in the presence of greater dendritic cell infiltration.