gms | German Medical Science

Specific objective: Glycodelin is a 28 kDa glycosilized protein of the lipocalin family and a marker of endothelial differentiation. In vitro it was shown to inhibit cell adhesion. In ovarian cancer it could potentially be used as a tumour marker, as a correlation with 10 year prognosis, progesterone receptor and grading has been demonstrated. Aim of this study was the analysis of glycodelin expression in breast cancer regarding to known factors of prognosis (grading, hormone receptors and nodal status).

Methods: Paraffin-fixed tissue of 120 breast cancer tumours from postmenopausal women were analysed immunohistochemically with a monoclonal and a polyclonal antibody. The grade and distribution of staining was evaluated with the immunoreactive score (IRS). Statistical evaluation was done by Mann-Whitney-test. P<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

Summary of results: A statistically significant reduction in glycodelin expression correlating with higher grading or missing hormone receptors could only be shown from G1 to G2 and in subgroups. The intensitiy of glycodelin expression and its changes in the different groups were different for the monoclonal and the polyclonal antibody. discussion: The expression of glycodelin in breast cancer could be demonstrated. There is a trend to reduced expression with ongoing loss of differentiation. In this study there is no proof of an independently reduced expression of glycodelin in hormone receptor negative tumours. It needs further investigation to estimate the value of glycodelin as a prognostic marker in breast cancer.

Figure 1 [Fig. 1]