Detection of hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor receptor (c-Met) in axillary drainage after operations for breast cancer using reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction

Breast Cancer Research

Ofer Kaplan¹  Yehuda Skornick¹  Ignat Schwartz²  Ron Greenberg¹ 

[1] Department of Surgery A, Tel-Aviv Medical Center, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel;Department of Pathology and Cancer Research Center, Tel-Aviv Medical Center, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel

关键词: prognosis;    Met;    hepatocyte growth factor;    breast cancer;    axillary fluid;   

Others  :  1118806
DOI  :  10.1186/bcr588

 received in 2002-10-21, accepted in 2003-02-04,  发布年份 2003

【 摘 要 】

Background

The diverse biological effects of hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) are mediated by c-Met, which is preferentially expressed on epithelial cells. Met signaling has a role in normal cellular activities, and may be associated with the development and progression of malignant processes. In this study we examined whether Met can be detected in the axillary drainage from patients who underwent conservative operations for breast cancer, and its prognostic significance.

Methods

Thirty-one consecutive patients with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast suitable for breast-conserving treatment were studied. The output of the drain that had been placed in the axilla during the operation was collected, and the presence of Met and β-actin were assessed by reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) assays. The data were compared with the pathological features of the tumor and the axillary lymph nodes, and with the estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor status.

Results

RT–PCR of the axillary lymphatic drainage was positive for Met in 23 (74.2%) of the patients. Positive assays were correlated with increasing tumor size and grade, with capillary and lymphatic invasion, and with lymph node metastasis (P < 0.02, for all comparisons). All 12 patients with axillary lymph node metastases had positive assays for Met, compared with 57.9% of patients without lymph node metastases. All five patients with tumor involvement in the margins of the resection had positive assays for Met in their lymphatic fluid, compared with 18 of 26 positive assays (69.2%) for patients without involved margins (P < 0.04). Finally, Met showed negative correlations with positivity for estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor (P < 0.02).

Conclusion

Met can be detected in the axillary fluids of patients with breast cancer and its expression in the axillary drainage may have potential as a prognostic factor. This finding might be relevant to therapeutic considerations, because a positive assay for Met in histologically node-negative patients might point to the need to search for node microinvasion or involvement of the excision margins with tumor.

【 授权许可】

   
2003 Greenberg et al., licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the article's original URL.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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