Expression Of Nm23 Protein And Cathepsin-D In Breast Cancer And Its Clinical Significance

Objective: To study the expression and clinical significance of nm23 protein and cathepsin-D in breast carcinomas. Methods: The expression of nm23 protein and cathepsin-D were detected by immunohistochemical S-P methods in tissue samples from 43 cases of breast carcinoma with >5 year of follow up. Results: The overall positive rate of nm23 protein and cath-D was 67.4% (29/43) and 72.1% (31/43). The high expression of nm23 protein showed to be negative correlation with histological grade, axilla lymph node metastasis, recurrence and metastasis, survival periods(p<0.05). The high expression of cath-D was positively related to the histological grade, axilla lymph node metastasis, recurrence and metastasis, survival period(p<0.05).There is no relation between the expression of nm23 protein and cath-D. Conclusions: (1) The positive expression of nm23 protein occure more in well differentiated breast cancer. It is associated with better prognosis of the patients. (2) The positive expression of cath-D hinted the low differentiation of tumor and could act as a reference marker to evaluate metastasis and unfavorable prognosis of breast cancers. (3) The expression of nm23 protein and cath-D areindependent parimeter.